Dark Legacy
by The Chaotic Ones
Summary: Rated to be safe. AU, Yami is the cold hearted monarch of an arid Desert, Yugi is a gift given to apease him. Warning: shonenai, yaoi, mute Yugi, OCs, mean OCs
1. Chapter One

Aaries: Okay, as you know this story was our crowning achievement; our Greatest Fic yet, untill FanFiction got a stick up its arse and deleted it, without – naturally, because they're EVIL – giving us a chance to save the other ones first.  
  
Chaos: and for that we curse them and theirs eternally.... _glowers_  
  
Aaries: too bad we're still posting here... Oh well, this is going to be the new, Improved Version. We plan on making it better than it was before and all that other jazz.  
  
Angel: that and we have a Beta, Chronicles Bailey, a.k.a. Chroni. This chapter and all subsequent chapters are dedicated to her! We Love you Chroni!!!! (Beta's note: YAY!)   
  
PR: WE-DO-NOT-OWN-YUGIOH-SO-DON'T-SUE-BECAUSE-WE-HAVE-LITTLE-TO-NO-MONEY-AS-WE-ARE-A-POOR-COLLEGE-STUDENT-LIVING-WITH-MOM-STILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Jef: Actualy we start college in August, but Shhh, it's supposed to be a secret.  
  
On with the Story!!!!

* * *

Yami lounged comfortably on his throne, waiting for his advisor to finish rambling on about whatever he was talking about. Yami tried to stifle his yawn, and that seemed to upset the poor little advisor even more, as Yami was known to execute those who bored him too much. He also enjoyed torturing annoying morons when he could get away with it, giving him quite a reputation as a tyrant. In truth he was really very mild about his pleasures compared to his father King Kage Heilorch, but people tended to forget about the sins of former monarchs after only a few short years after they passed when they wanted to. High Prince Yami was fairly certain that future historians would look back and when comparing his reign to his fathers, point out that Yami was the lesser of two evils, but for now: Yami = tyrant.  
  
Yami, for his part, didn't care what his advisors, or for that matter anyone else, thought of him. He was the sole Ruler of this blessed country, and as such held absolute power over almost everyone and everything. As was his duty, he had implemented Laws to kill thieves, murderers, assassins, and rapists on the first offense, and any other, milder law breakers on the second offense, resulting in a satisfying yet boring decline in crime. A few of his advisors had claimed he was far too harsh, so Yami executed them. Monarchy's a beautiful thing.  
  
The advisor (finally) finished with his report and Yami motioned for the next one in line to step forward as the weasely little man backed hastily away. Yami's interest perked when the next advisor was announced, as this one always had something _intresting_ to say. Shadi had been one of Kage's advisors, and had survived the latter half of the late king's reign and all of the dark prince's reign thus far, making him an interesting enigma. Shadi also seemed to always know exactly what would interest Yami on any given day, continually giving him intriguing, though not always pleasant, news.  
  
As Shadi stepped forward, Yami once again examined the man, noting his immaculate crème robes and the turban he always wore his long black hair trapped in. This advisor took great pains to assure his appearance was acceptable for court, though he never dressed up more than was absolutely necessary, reflecting his practical and well centered nature. That was one of the things Yami liked about the man; he wasn't another peacock fishing for praise and recognition, and he never had been. He was also honest, unlike many of his peers.  
  
"The price of slaves has gone up by thirty percent in the last month, High Lord, and many of the nobles are greatly put out because of it. It appears as if the House Mintaren is trying to corner the slave market. The other noble houses are becoming edgy." Shadi stated glibly, and Yami's eyebrow arched almost of its own accord. House Mintaren had made its fortune by training slaves, and normally they only purchased the highest quality slaves to start off with.  
  
"Does anyone know _why_ they're cornering the market?" Yami asked, now fully interested.  
  
"No Sire; and the Mintarens have been more secluded than usual lately." Shadi said, bowing low.  
  
"I see..." Yami replied; a smirk coming to his lips. This would be the perfect opportunity to visit the powerful house and make sure that they were not planning anything dastardly. Yes, it would be fun indeed...

* * *

Aaries: Okay.... wasn't there supposed to be something before this, an introduction to Yugi or something?  
  
Chaos: Yea, in the last typed version but we lost that when the CPU crashed a few months ago and it was not in the original written version.  
  
Aaries: ah.... I see... why didn't we re-do that?  
  
Angel: didn't see much point in it. We're going to try to cut back on how long this is going to be, after all, and adding that would make it longer without adding much to the plot.  
  
Aaries: so . . . we're being lazy.  
  
Angel: it's your fingers; if you really want to type _that_ badly....  
  
Aaries: I think I'll pass, thank you, my hands hurt already.  
  
Jef: please review and let us know what you think! Thanks. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chroni: Hope you're ready for this. _IIICovers ears in anticipation of screaming joygasmsIII  
_  
Aaries: Yaaay!! Here's the second chapter!!! We really hope you like it!!! But first, a few very important things...Review Replies!!!!  
  
To kenshinfan21: When this was deleted before, it was under the same exact name, Dark Legacy, and it was pretty much the same story. Thank you for the compliment! We're still a little bit sore that it was deleted in the first place, though the revision is better in our opinion. We haven't really started college yet, we just graduated high school!!!  
  
To I Forget: Nice name!!! Aww... _IIIhugglesIII _its ok to be addicted to well written fan fics; I know we are. May we suggest Small of Two Pieces by ssj sky? You can find her through search. That is one of the best fics ever, and if sky gets enough reviews she may post faster. Anyways, here is our update!!  
  
To Pharaoh Atemu's Angel: Well...they don't meet yet but we do introduce Yugi to the fic in this chappie. Here's that update you requested!  
  
To Osiris-Lee: We love you!!! You get a prize for giving us the most inspiring review yet!!! _IIIgives you a Yami plushie and a Yugi plushie, both dressed in Arabian pants and robesIII_ Yea the first chapter was a little bit short, we didn't realize it till we posted it and then went to re-read it to make sure nothing was wrong, but hopefully this chapter is better. Sorry about the OC's, but there's not much we can do about them. We don't use that many of the original YGO charries in this fic, but Legacy is going to be a four story Arc, one story for each of our favorite couples and eventually all of the YGO charries we know get used. If you have a good idea for the bad guys let us know, and if they aren't already taken we'll use them, k? Thank you soooooo much for finding this again _somehow _and remembering the original version. _IIIGives you pixi stix and pop rocks tooIII  
_  
To Yami's Tenshi: thankies!! We're glad you liked the last chapter and hope you enjoy this one too!!

Angel: I really wish we owned Yugioh, but we don't...sigh....  
  
Yami: For which I am eternally grateful!!  
  
Chaos: Why, if we owned Yugioh, you and the other spirits would get a whole lot more air time!  
  
Yami: Which I can live just fine without thank you very much!!!  
  
Jef: Whatever, now get back to your place. _IIIYami get sucked up by a Plot Hole of Doom (TM)III_  
  
Aaries: And Profuse thanks to Chroni for Betaing!! We Love her Lots and Lots!!

* * *

Yugi was awake and ready for his day well before dawn, as were all of the other dance students who knew the routine. Yugi was one in a class of about forty, so he was easily overlooked by both the other dance students and the slave masters. Not that anything would have happened to Yugi anyway, House Mintaren took care of the slaves it trained as a matter of reputation. As the slaves filed to the kitchen for breakfast, Yugi followed behind so he could allow himself a moment of leisure to admire the stars in the clear pre-dawn sky. Slaves usually spent the day in a very large room practicing so that they would please their potential masters.  
  
"Good morning Yugi." A kind melodic voice said, and Yugi looked over to see Lady Kina, the woman who had brought him to House Mintaren. Yugi couldn't reply to her because he had no voice of his own, so he bowed respectfully and smiled at her. "Hurry and eat your morning meal Yugi, you will need your strength today." she said cryptically, before going to another building in the compound.  
  
Yugi watched her for a moment, and then hurried to eat - though he did not understand her message.  
**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP  
**  
Kina watched Yugi follow the others to the kitchen from the shadows of the doorway where she had turned, wondering what fate the gods had in store for him. Kina was a priestess of the god of light and love, Mer, and as such was often given instructions she didn't understand. That was how it had been when she first found Yugi, beaten and abused by cruel masters, and taken him in as a dancer. The small boy had the right build for it, and he was beautiful and un-marred despite abusive masters in the past, but Kina didn't know if that and the training he had received would be enough to help him when she carried out her gods next command.  
**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**  
  
The morning class had just started when Yugi saw Lady Kina again, much to the small boy's surprise. Lady Kina usually came for him after noon rest and gave him advanced dance instructions, so for her to arrive shortly after morning classes began was very strange. Yugi had been behind the bigger students when she came in, so he didn't see her until the slave trainer called out for the slaves to stop their warm ups and for Yugi to come to the front of the large room.  
  
Afraid that he may have done something wrong, Yugi made his way to where the slave trainer waited with Lady Kina. "Come with me Yugi," was all she said before leading him out. The small slave followed hesitantly. Kina led him to a private garden patio on the top of one of the roofs that faced east, looking out over the vast, empty desert. Yugi knew the view well because this was where Lady Kina trained him in the afternoons, though the desert was now in subdued hues of blue and lavender rather than bright and glaring gold.  
  
"Do you know who I am and what my duties are?" Kina asked, after looking over the desert for a moment.  
Yugi shook his head. "I am Kina Ner Mintaren, High Priestess of the god Mer and Seer of my family's house." She let him absorb that information as she looked up at the stars. "Yugi, do you know why I bought you, why I led you here, to this training complex?" Kina asked after several moments.  
  
Now Yugi shook his head fearfully, terrified that he had somehow done something wrong to offend her.  
"Don't be afraid, you have done nothing wrong," Kina smiled, as if she knew what was in his heart. "I brought you here because my god told me to, and told me to have you trained as a dancer. I am telling you this in hope that you will understand what I must do next." Kina turned to look at him now. "Today his highness, High Lord Prince Yami Heilorch is going to visit House Mintaren and we must present him with a suitable gift in exchange for this honor."  
  
Yugi was confused as to why she was telling him this, until the implacations of the weighty statement sunk in, and he began to tremble. The High Prince was a terrifying figure to Yugi, who had never been around anyone of any such great importance before. Yugi shook his head slightly to clear his mind and looked up to Lady Kina, the first to ever show him kindness, hoping that he had misunderstood. The sad look in her eyes told him that he had not. "Yugi, it would shame our house if we were to offer him any other than our very best." Kina said quietly, and Yugi wanted to yell at her, to tell her - _Choose someone else! _- but the moment passed quickly. The trembling in Yugi's hands increased; and he felt tears well up in his eyes at the thought of leaving the only home he had ever known. As if she sensed his fear and uncertainty, Lady Kina stepped forward and embraced him in a gentle hug, and Yugi let loose his tears and sobbed into the front of her dress.  
  
"Shh.... all will be well little one, I promise. It is a long and harsh road ahead of you, but all will be well in the end." When Yugi began to calm down, Lady Kina stepped away from him so that he could re-gain his composure. "Come now, He will be here soon and I must prepare you for what lies ahead." Yugi nodded and followed Kina back into the compound.  
**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**  
  
Yami arrived just as dawn touched the sky, to find the Mintaren complex abuzz with the normal morning routines. It had been two days ago that Yami first heard of the slave problem, and he had received a few well-worded complaints since then, making him decide to nip this in the bud early. If the nobles were too discontent, they might try something that Yami wouldn't approve of, and then Yami would have to go through the trouble of exterminating them and finding new petty nobles to take their places and that was simply tedious.  
  
As they approached the front gate, some worthless herald or another announced his presence, and the gates opened to admit the Dark Prince. As soon as his sedan chair ( (_think the chair on in a litter thingie from History of the World Part one_) ) was in the centre of the courtyard, Yami commanded the slaves carrying it to set him down, and stood up.  
  
Yami was out to make an impression today, and so he wore his finest black silk robes. He knew without any kind of a doubt that the traditional robes looked ridiculous on his small slender frame, so the robes he wore was open in the front to reveal his well sculpted chest that was bedecked with many gold chains, inlaid with precious black gems and rubies. He wore loose black pants with a gold belt gold ankle cuffs that held the fluttering, whimsical cloth to his legs, though his sandals seemed sadly out of place, being only common, peasant-style lace-ups, simply dyed black to match his wardrobe. All in all, the stature impaired monarch made an impressive sight, his deeply tanned skin and piercing ruby eyes accented well by the dark cloths he wore, and his gravity and color defying hair gave him an almost unearthly look. (((AN: oooohh... collectively drools fanart would SOOOOOOO be appreciated. Chroni: this was MURDER to edit.)))  
  
Stepping forward from inside the sedan, Yami waited for one of the nobles of House Mintaren to approach him with an offer of hospitality. He didn't have to wait nearly as long as he thought he would for them to organize enough to come to him.  
  
"M-my Lord... W-welcome. Lord Mejiah b-begs that y-you please a-accept our f-feeble Hospitality" one of the lesser nobles of the house said, bowing deeply to him. Yami signaled for him to lead the way, and the man hurriedly led the Dark Prince toward the main compound. Yami smirked and followed this pathetic youth.

* * *

Aaries: Well, that's the fic folks!! Now do us a favor and let us know what you thought of it!  
_**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII  
**_Good stuff.  
  
--Chroni 


	3. Chapter Three

Aaries: sorry about this taking longer, but our host body just switched jobs at work and has been exausted lately.

Chaos: Yea.... I STILL hate little kids.... ((grumbles for a little while))

Jef: By the way, the asterisks we normally mark our actions in are no longer working on (Beta's Note: because it's a HO! ((Chroni's stories have been heavily affected))) so instead we will be using these "((" and these "))" to mark our actions and author notes.

Angel: Now on to the interesting stuff. ((Rubs hands in anticipation)) first off, here are the Review replies.

To Osiris-Lee: You're so great, we love you! Honestly. The longer the review the better in our opinion, and we're glad you liked the plushies. As for Kina, she actually plays a very influential role in both this fic and Legacy of Light, the second installment of this story. Yea, Yugi is Mute, but we will establish a mind link with Yami by chapter six or seven, and in the fourth Legacy story he will gain telepathy. Yep, we fully intend to have four stories under Legacy, and they will be Dark Legacy, Legacy of Light (about Ryou and Bakura. Naturally Bakura will be a thief, what else can we do with him?), Dragons Legacy (about Jou and Seto), and Legacy of the Moon and Stars. The last one is actually the least planned out so far but, it will focus on Marik and Malik, as gods.... Uh... is that TMI? As for Bandit Keith, we had forgotten about him, and to be honest when we first started writing about this didn't even know who he was. We'll use him. Do you think we should Use Anzu as an evil Priestess? ((Beta's Note: **YES**)) Oh well, thank you very much for reviewing again.

To kenshinfan21: Really? We'll have to check those stories out and let you know what we think. Thank you for reviewing again.

To SoulDreamer: we are glad you think so ((blushes and scratches the back of our head in embarrassment)) Here is the next part, Enjoy.

To YugiYamiforever: Thank you, it feels good to know that people will watch for our next chapter.

To I Forget: Thanks for reading Sky's story, and it is a little confusing at this point, but we got to read all of it before it was deleted from , and it all makes sense in the end. We hope to one day be as good as Sky. As for Chroni's betaing job, yea, she's really great. We will let her know that you were impressed. We always are, Chroni takes our words and makes them like, ten times better, we love her. Here is the next part, enjoy.

Aaries: Thanks again to Chroni, our Beta reader!! You're the Best Ever!! ((Chroni blushes and smiles))

Jef: A special note about when Yami and Yugi meet: it's probably NOT going to be love at first sight for Yugi, (come on, Yugi is just a gift to avert his wrath) though we plan to have Yami thoroughly smitten by the end of this chapter, he just won't know it. Yugi has had some very bad experiences with masters in the past, so bear with us while Yami breaks down his barriers.

PR: WE-DO-NOT-OWN-YUGIOH-BUT-WE-DO-OWN-LADY-KINA-NER-MINTAREN-SO-DONT-STEAL-HER-WITHOUT-PERMISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaries: Oh and before we forget, we WILL make Yugi dance this chapter instead of waiting and making it vague like we did before. that was a hard decision, and Chroni is probably going to hate us for it... Oh well, we're sorry but we wanted to make this version better than the other one.

_**

* * *

**_

Yugi kneeled where he had been instructed to wait, trembling slightly with fear and uncertainty as he listened for Lady Kina and the Dark Prince to return. Yugi was to provide entertainment for the Dark Prince and Lord Mejiah Mintaren after their meeting, and as such Lady Kina wanted him to wait in the room while they talked. In preparation for his debut he had been washed and thoroughly cleaned, dressed in clean white silk pants that cuffed around his ankles, with silver belled anklets and braclets that chimed with his every movement. The traditional dancers attire. Yugi had been trained to be able to move silently even with the bells on so that he would not be an unwanted distraction, but when he was dancing, the bells would act as cymbals so that every time he moved he would create his own music. Yugi wore no shoes, but most slaves didn't, so this was in no way unusual.

Lady Kina had instructed him exactly what dance to do; and thinking of it made Yugi blush heavily. She had chosen a mildly erotic dance for Yugi. It would be hard to perform the proper footwork for it, but Yugi was very good at what he did. He knew he was good, though he really didn't like showing his talent to others, thus his dilemma. If Yugi messed up, the Dark Prince probably wouldn't want him, but Lady Kina would be disappointed in him. It was really a choice for Yugi: try to stay here by not showing his full abilities, or please Lady Kina, the woman he considered as a mother more than his own.

It really was not a choice at all.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yami sauntered down the hallway, his black and gold robes flowing around him in an impressive manner as he followed the unimportant noble. The room he was lead to was spacious but dark, with mahogany wood paneling covering the walls in a display of wealth. Wood was rare in this desert land, and mahogany had to be imported from thousands of miles to the north, making it very expensive. There were three people waiting in the room for him, and Yami examined them minutely before he sat down. There was Mejiah, the patron of the house, sitting in a well padded chair and covered with blankets. Mejiah was ancient, and it showed in his frail lanky frame, aged face, and nearly bald head. There were three or four short white hairs combed over his head, and many of his teeth had fallen out with age, but that did not detract from the air of danger around the man. Mejiah was powerful still, with a perfectly clear and sharp mind shining behind his squinting old eyes, and age had done nothing to dull his cleverness.

Also in the room was Mejiah's comparatively young great grand daughter, Kina Ner-Mintaren, Mejiahs Heiress. She was very intelligent, and that was the only thing Yami gave her credit for. She was a Priestess of the Light Gods, and Yami despised all of them on principle - they were hypocrites, he was the Dark Prince. Kina was rather nice looking, with long brown hair that was tied back in a simple style that most other noble women would have ridiculed her for, and she wore a plain dress as opposed to the bright, frilly things that a less sensible noble born daughter would wear. Yami still didn't like her very much.

The last occupant of the room was a small slave kneeling by the back wall, and after a cursory glance Yami dismissed him. He was dressed as a dancer and would likely provide entertainment after their discussion.

"Welcome, Dark Lord." Mejiah rasped out, his voice dry and scratchy with age. "May I presume to inquire why you are here?"

"It has been brought to My attention that your house has been buying all of the slaves on the market. This has been unnerving to the lesser nobles and I wish to put a stop to any . . . unrest before it becomes a problem." Yami explained. "Why are you purchasing all of the slaves?" he then asked bluntly. He never really did like pussy-footing around his own court in attempts not to offend.

Mejiah simply raised an eyebrow for a second before chuckling. "It's very simple." he rasped, and Yami got the impression that the man would drop dead any second of old age. "The general quality of slaves has gone down recently and to compensate for it, I have initiated a testing program to separate the trainable slaves from the rest. However for it to work, I need as large a group of slaves as possible to start off with. All of the ones we cannot train to satisfaction, we will resale at buying price." Mejiah explained.

Yami thought about this for a moment before breaking out into a grin. "That would put you in effective control of the entire slave trade, giving us a lovely little monopoly on one of the largest markets in Egypt." Yami observed, somewhere between amusement at his noble's tactics and anger at the market being cornered. Slaves were important even to pharaohs, but he sincerely disliked paying through the nose to get them from his underlings. "You're leaving behind quite a legacy for your children, aren't you?"

"It will not be that hard for them to live up it, my Lord." Mejiah said, amusement twinkling in his ancient eyes. "Choosing the right slaves to train is something I have taught my children well. For example, my granddaughter Kina found a very agile young one a few months ago to train as a dancer."

"Truly? What kind of dancer?" Yami asked, his curiosity suddenly getting the better of him. It was a little known fact that before Honored King Kage died, Yami had had quite a harem of dancers. When he became the High Prince he had dismissed them so he could straighten out the country, and he had never gotten around to replacing them.

"He learned everything we taught him." Kina said, speaking up for the first time. "I personally had to oversee his training because he learned all that the handlers had to teach him very quickly. I heard that you had a fancy for dancers, and arranged that you might see a demonstration if you like," she offered, with a glint of pride in her eyes.

"It could do no harm." Yami said, nodding his approval.

"Very well. Yugi, would you come over here." she said to the slave that was kneeling by the wall. When the boy stood up, Yami finaly got to get a good look at him and was surprised by the similarities between the boy looked and how he looked. But . . . looking closer, Yami saw that the boy was much paler, and his dark hair had slightly lavender highlights, not the deep, blood wine burgundy of Yami's hair. The boy looked down the entire time he walked to Kina, and so all Yami saw of the boys face were blond spiked bangs, and his lower face, but that alone was enough to convey the beauty of the child to Yami. This boy was indeed a child, standing a full head shorter than the seventeen year old monarch, and with a slender build that no full grown man could ever hope for. "This is Yugi, my dancer." Kina said simply as an introduction.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yugi had listened the entire time, feeling nervous and unsure when they started talking about him, and he did his best to keep his hands from trembling. He had never actually danced FOR anyone before... When Lady Kina called him over he kept his eyes on the floor in front of his feet and went to stand before her and the others.

"He is very... small. Can he truly dance so well as you say?" the Dark Lord asked, his rich voice sending chills down Yugi's spine. Yugi was startled, wondering how anyone could doubt Lady Kina's words so easily, before remembering that he had doubted her once. It sent a pang of sorrow through his heart for the decision he had made, and for a moment he wondered at changing it. He firmed his resolve though when he felt Lady Kina's eyes on him. Yugi would do everything in his power to please her...

"You may begin, Yugi." Lady Kina said simply, and that was all that Yugi had been waiting for.

Yugi walked to the center of the room, in the clear space beside the low table that served no purpose other than to make the room seem less empty. It was in Yugi's way, but such things had never bothered him before, and Yugi simply took it as a personal challenge to incorporate the thing into his complex dance. Never lifting his eyes from the floor Yugi closed his eyes and began his routine.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yami was enthralled by the grace of this creature as he moved across the room, the bells on his wrists and ankles giving no voice to his motion. Surely no earthly being could be _that_ perfect in movement, and it could be nothing but subconscious, for Yami would have felt any magic or power that the boy used. It was a surprise to the silent room when the boy moved suddenly and the bells rang out, true and clear. It was a simple movement, as the boy had only tilted his ankle up, and lifted his arms to his side in the traditional starting position of a story dance.

The boy held that position for a moment before lifting his head slowly and taking a deep breath. Yami found himself taking a breath as well, though quieter and sharper than that of the boy, because the boy was so like himself yet so very different as well. If his movements had seemed perfect, then his features shattered that illusion by showing a beauty that seemed to be so much more than it was. His face was small, and shone in an ethereal way, with gentle curves that could never have served as well on any girls face, petal soft lips parted slightly to allow air into his mouth and lungs, and at last gentle curving eyebrows and long eyelashes that any lady at court would have killed for. Yami felt a distinct pang of _something_ when he realized that the boys eyes were closed, and he wanted nothing more than to see this angel's eyes in that moment.

Then the boy began moving again, in simple steps that Yami recognized as the languid motions of a love ballad. The simple steps were performed with complete care and yet at the same time utter disregard of the normal laws of movement. Gracefulness and innocence poured from his form like water from a river, but his steps and other movements became quicker a moment later as his pace suddenly changed.

* * *

Aaries: And thus Yami is smitten. 

Chaos: but Yugi didn't REALLY dance in this chapter, at least not all of the dance.

Aaries: Don't worry, next chappy starts out with Yugi's POV (kinda) and explains part of the dance, then switches to Yami's, then back to Yugi's as the dance comes to an end, and then back to Yami's as Yugi finally opens his eyes.

Chroni: He's gonna do the whole thing with the big hunk of furniture in the room, with his EYES closed? Wow.

Aaries: Hehe!! Yep isn't that the only way to do it?

Chroni: X/

Angel: By the way, whats up with the eyes thing? slaves were never alowed to look their masters in the eyes in Egypt, and it would have been a double blasphemy for them to look into the pharohs eyes because NO ONE looks into the pharohs eyes, on pain of death or something like that.

Aaries: MY story, MY rules!!! besides, who said Yugi would be looking into Yami's eyes? I happen to know for a fact that its posssible to look into somenones eyes without them looking into yours.

Chroni: ((is doubtful))

Jef: In any case, review and let us know what you think. We tried to make this chapter plenty long, let us know how we did.

Aaries: By the way, we have been getting five reviews for each chapter, and while we are eternally grateful, we're also greedy. So we are going to hold off writing the next chapter till we get SIX reviews for this one, making a grand total of sixteen reviews in all. ((Gets evil gleam in eyes)) Let us know what you think!


	4. Chapter Four

Aaries: Uh... so we didn't expect to get eight reviews in under two days... anyway you could all forgive us for not updating very quickly? We would have preferred to wait a week, but a promise is a promise...

Chroni: In case you're wondering why this is late getting posted . . . I forgot to check my email ((sweatdrops))

Jef: basically when we got over the shock of it, we started typing this. Due to the fact that we usually type the review replies before we type the chapter, and we don't feel like modifying it later, we are going to put the review replies in the end notes. Sorry, but if you want to see our replies to you, you'll have to scroll to the bottom.

Chaos: by the way, we got a QUESTION from one of the reviewers that must be **Immediately** answered...

Aaries: two of them actually, from the same reviewer.

Chaos: ((glowers)) as I was saying, we got a question that was explained in the previous version in the prelude or prologue (whatever you want to call it) that Yugi was mute from birth and that's why his father sold him into slavery when his mother died.

Angel: Yea, we don't know how deeply we want to go into that this time but it had to be addressed. As for the other question, about the other charries and whether or not they are going to be making a lot of appearances in this. Jou, Seto, Shizuka (serenity in the dub), and Mokuba will all make important appearances in this story but will be focused on in Dragon's Legacy.

Chaos: That's another thing, the entire Legacy timeline is pretty screwy and we kinda need to explain it. Dark Legacy was the first Legacy fic to be written, so all of the other fics are based in it somehow and we decided to write it first, **HOWEVER**...

Aaries: Dragon's Legacy actually begins seven years before Dark Legacy, and many of its events are entwined with Dark Legacy. We want to ask you all if you think we should post Dragon at the same time as Dark? By the time we reach the relevant chapters in both stories, they will be parallel as far as timeline goes. Or would you prefer we post Dragon after?

Jef: This is the ONLY choice you will be getting in the order the Legacy stories are posted. Legacy of Light is definitely set after Dark Legacy; and Legacy of the Moon and Stars actually begins a few hundred years beforehand, but ends last. Yea, lots of time-slip in there.

Angel: Anyways, tell us what you think of it please, we really need to know.

Aaries: Now on to the story itself! ((is entirely to chipper))

Angel: By the way, this is all dedicated to Chroni, the Best Beta Reader Ever.

Chroni: ... even though I'm ridiculously late.

Aaries: Yep

* * *

Story dances were notoriously hard to dance, as the story teller relied only on their body and chimes to express their tale. Because of this, they were rarely understood unless there was a narrator present, or whoever was watching already knew the story. It was a pain and humiliation that most dancers preferred to avoid, and only the best could truly make the story understood without aid.

Yugi was the best. He needed no one to explain his movements as he was naturally expressive. Yugi had never had a voice of his own to explain himself with, so he had learned early on to use his body movements to communicate with others. Few people were patient enough to actually stop and watch his words, so Yugi was also good at getting peoples attention and keeping it. Yugi was intelligent, and quick on the uptake, able to see something once and remember it for as long as he needed to. All of these attributes helped him when he decided to dance stories.

His arms raised above his head, his wrists rotating as his feet each moved independently and yet, in perfect synch. Left foot forward, with the heel tapping down and up as his right leg lifted to the side and his toes brushed the floor in a shy manner, conveying the need and desire of a lover.

His right foot settled quietly as his left lifted, signaling the change to the other lover's view, symbolizing an acknowledged and passionate love between two people.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yami watched, so enthralled by the powerful grace that he somehow seemed to understand all of the boy's simple – but at the same time, profound – movements. The boy was telling a story about lovers, that much was certain, though most story dances did not begin so plainly. Yami found himself wondering about the rest of the story. Yami found himself chewing his lip in silent worry when the boy came close to the table in the centre of the room, but the boy felt its presence somehow, avoiding it before contact or collision was made. And through it all, his eyes remained shut.

It was strange and unnerving to watch him dance with his eyes closed; and worrisome as well because Yami had no idea when, or if, the way things were going, the boy was going to stumble and harm himself. Yami tried to convince himself that it didn't matter if the boy caused himself injury, but for some reason he knew that it wasn't true. Such rare beauty needed to be taken care of, not left simply to its own devices; though Yami had no idea how to take care of the boy without jeopardizing some of his hard earned respect.

That's when the boys pace changed, and his movements became far freer, showing a battle.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yugi felt the exertion of his Dance warming his skin, as he moved to the next part of the story, concentrating on the correct steps and movements. He couldn't afford to let his eyes open at this point and distract himself, because if he did he would stumble and ruin the dance. At this point, that would be worst possible thing he could do because this was the battle phase of this particular story.

This was the most complex story dance Yugi had ever heard of, beginning with two young soul mates who had just found each other, and explaining the depth of their love for each other. As no story is complete without, the dance explained how they were separated when others found out about their relationship, and their struggle to be together. It was a very moving dance when done properly, or so Yugi had been told. He had never actually seen all of the steps and the movements put into a semblance of a whole, he had only danced it.

It was also a very long dance, and Yugi was only in the first battle stage of it. Soon his steps slowed to the mourning phase though, showing the lovers separation, and several minuets later, his moves sped up again, symbolizing search. The dance got really specific after that, and Yugi couldn't concentrate on the story behind it any more, since ALL of his attention was focused on the tale his feet and hands wove.

**_XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP_**

Yami watched in awe as the boy danced, recognizing the blatant movements of anger and sorrow, followed by the more subdued but no less obvious movements of mourning and searching. Just as the dance slowed enough that Yami was sure that it was coming to an end, the boy did a quick spin, taking him precariously close to the small table and consequently starting steps to another battle dance. Yami was almost sure that the boy would run into the errant piece of furniture a moment later when his foot swung in that direction, but at the very last second he added a small hop and was suddenly dancing on the table.

The boy's body glistened in the light filtering in from the window, and as the dance progressed again from battle directly to the steps of acknowledged love and lust, Yami felt himself reacting to the boy. Yami suddenly wanted nothing more than to feel that small body underneath him, shuddering in pleasure. The dance ended suddenly, and Yami found he was short of breath.

The boy was still on the table, the dance having ended in a kneeling position, with his eyes closed. He was just breathing for a moment, recovering from the exertion of the dance.

"What . . . what was the title of that dance?" Yami asked, in awe of the grace and skill it must have required to make it. He had never seen a dance at all like it, let alone a dance done so well.

"It is one of the oldest dances, of the legend of The Gods of Light and The God of Darkness." Kina explained. "It tells of the rogue god of Light who fell in love with the Dark God, and how the other gods of light tried to separate them."

Yami nodded in understanding. The old dances were rare to witness because many of them had been forgotten, and it was true that that was one of the oldest and least known legends. Yami only knew of it because he favored the Dark God as the patron of his reign, and had thus studied all there was to know of him and his.

Yami looked over the slave again, noting that he was fully calmed from his dance now, as if he had barely been winded to begin with.

"Does he please you, highness?" Kina asked, startling Yami out of his detailed examination of the boy. Yami looked closely at her for any hint of mockery or derisiveness, but found only sincerity, so he nodded sharply. "He is yours then sire, a gift if you so desire." She stated, startling Yami slightly.

Apparently she also startled the slave boy, because when Yami returned his gaze to the boy his eyes were open wide and he was staring at Yami with something of fear and shock. The boy immediately looked away, cringing slightly, but the image of lovely, expressive lavender eyes was burned forever into Yami's memory.

**_

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Aaries: Uh.. please don't kill us?

Yami: it was a cliff hanger... Of course someone is going to try to kill you, and whoever decides to try, you have my full support.

Jef: ((Glares at Yami for a second before the spirit queeps nervously and runs away)) The first to threaten Aaries shall feel my wrath.

Angel: Yea, whatever he said. ((drapes himself gracefully across Jef's shoulders without shame))

Aaries: Aw... ((hands out warmfuzzies to everyone)) My muses are growing up and falling in love...

Chaos: Whatever... on to the reviews, from the first we received, to the last.

To kenshinfan21: Thanks, we think... Sadly, if we could send people to the Shadow Realm, a LOT of kids would end up without parents. Just because we work in the children's rides area does NOT mean that I am an impromptu babysitter. Here is the update!!!

To SoulDreamer: Yea, being hooked isn't a bad thing. We're really glad you like the story in general, and hope you will like this chapter (in specific) as well.

To bast4: Because you questions are very important to the plot, but we don't know if we will write the answers into the story, we wrote them at the top, but here's a recap; Yugi is mute from birth, but sold off by his father after his mother died. Yes, he was born free. Eventually all of the Yugioh cast I know about will make an appearance in the Legacy stories, and Jou, Seto, Mokuba, and Shizuka will all be in this one and Dragons Legacy. (Please cast a vote for that by the way) Yugi doesn't feel anything yet, he is still in shock at Kina giving him away, but later he will be afraid and distrustful, and later after that he will start to fall in love with Yami. After that he gets kidnapped.

Chroni: way to ruin some suspense, chicka.

To Osiris-Lee: First off, we love you!!! You are soo cool for reviewing all of our chapters so far!!!! Next on the agenda, here ya go!!! The 'interesting bits' are up, but sorry to say they don't make an appearance. X.X It wasn't in Egypt originally; it was in a more Arabian country. Later on we will go into more of the geographical ramifications, but for now just pretend it's another world with a country named Egypt that is nothing like our Egypt, ok? We may end up changing the name of the country. In the written version it was Seyroon or something, but Egypt works just as well. Yep, Kina sticks around... uh.. what's your definition of Mary sue? She does get together with one of the YGO charries... just not anyone major... ehehehehe... Yea, Marik and Malik as gods... Hehehe.. You're going to like that one. I know we will! TMI=Too Much Information. Evil Keith and Anzu, got it. ((we will let you help impale her when the time comes)) The Legacy stories will be a little while in coming, here is the update!!! Have fun and we hope you liked it.

To Silvershadowfire: ((blushes)) thank you, we are really glad you like it. Here's the next bit!

To Mayrana: Wow, we're flattered. Thank you very much for reviewing this and we are really glad you like it. ((Melts under the force of the puppy-dog-eyes)) here is the next part

To Pharaoh Atemu's Angel: We are glad that you like it!!

To o.0 : Don't kill them just because they haven't reviewed yet. Just torture them a bit and tell them what you want done. that usually gets some kind of response. Here is the next part and we are glad you like it!!!!

To Amber Eyes: Yep!! Yami was stunned, as you can see in this chapter, speaking of which, here it is!!! hope you enjoyed, and we are glad you are interested, it flatters our Ego. ((Points to smallish pet dragon type thing that is wagging its tail joyously))

Aaries: Well, that's it for reviews. In case you didn't read the top-notes about Dragons Legacy and the choice please do so and cast your vote in a review. That and we think you will like the next chapter, the more reviews, the faster the update. Thank you!!


	5. Chapter Five

Aaries: Ok, this chapter was NOT written this way before.

Chaos: For one thing, Yami spent more time bantering with Kina and Mejiah. For another, the sedan was bigger... far bigger....

Jef: In other words, Yugi didn't have to sit in Yami's lap... hehehehe...

Angel: Whatever, now we started typing this a few hours after we posted the last chapter and have only the vaguest Idea how it will turn out.

Aaries: **BY THE WAY!!!!!! For the ten reviews we have so far, only one person cast a vote about Dragons Legacy. _I NEED EVERYONE TO CAST HIS OR HER VOTE ON THIS!!!!!_ If you don't know the details go back to chapter four and read the authors notes at the beginning of the chapter to find out.**

PR: AS-IN-LAST-CHAPTER,-REVIEW-REPLIES-WILL-BE-AT-THE-END-OF-THE-CHAPTER!!!!!!!

Aaries: And, as usual, our most profuse thanks to Chroni, our Beta reader.

Jef: Without further fuss, may we present Dark Legacy, Chapter Five.

Aaries: Where Seto and Mokuba make an appearance.

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**_

"Yugi, go retrieve what belongings you wish to take with you." Kina said kindly. Yugi nodded, leaving the room hastily. Kina felt badly about what she was doing to him, but she knew it would all turn out well in the end.

"Why has he not said anything?" The Dark Prince questioned once Yugi was safely out of the room, and Kina looked at him, only to see that he was thoughtfully watching the door Yugi had walked out of.

"He cannot speak, my Lord. According to what little records we have from before we found him, he has never been able to speak." Kina explained. "I have his papers ready if you would like them," she said, picking up a scroll that sat by her side and offering it reverently to him.

"Very well." Yami replied, taking the document. He opened the scroll and glanced through it, sneering lightly, before he rolled it again and stood. "I will be waiting in the courtyard. Since I have no other business here, I will bid you farewell for now. My royal treasurer will oversee the changes in your tax status." He added absently as he left the room.

When he was safely out of earshot, Kina's grandfather began cussing quietly. "I thought you said that he would forget about that if we gave him your dancer?" Mejiah demanded, and Kina sighed in resignation. Couldn't he understand the great events that had just taken place in this room?

"He will." Kina promised, trying to placate her grandfather. Yugi was her best and favorite student, couldn't he see how it upset her to just get rid of him like that?

"He had better..." Mejiah murmured as he got up and left the room, mumbling about being able to sell such grace for the ransom of a kingdom. Kina shook her head silently and stood to find Yugi.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yami waited by his sedan for his new slave to come to him, wondering what was taking so long. Surely the little slave did not own so many belongings to warrant taking this long? Sighing, Yami began to count his breaths to keep his agitation from showing, and thought back to what he had read in the slave boy's record. As a matter of propriety, all slaves had a personal record that went with them from their previous master to their new one when they were sold or given away, and it was their master's duty to see that the document was kept in good order. According to his new slave's record, his name was Yugi and his father had sold him into slavery eight years ago at the age of five. He had gone through over a dozen owners in that time, each time recorded as a pleasure slave, bought and sold in poor condition.

It was enough to make Yami's blood boil. The last selling note had been labeled as the boy being sold in abused condition to Kina. After that, there was a blank space for Yami to fill in his name and the condition he had received the boy in, which would automatically be updated in the country's archives by magics that the earlier princes of the country had built.

Finally, the boy emerged from the shadows of one of the entrances of the Mintaren estate, carrying a small beige bundle. He had removed his dancing bells, and briefly Yami wondered where they were, but he wasn't concerned. If the Mintarens kept the bells, Yami could always get more for the boy. Not that it mattered too much because Yami didn't know whom he would be willing to share the boy's grace with.

"Come," ordered Yami, seating himself so that he was lounging gracefully in his sedan. He motioned for the boy to join him. It wasn't Yami's biggest sedan, being only seven feet long and four feet wide, but it was one of his most comfortable, with a tall covering that shaded him and drapes that could be drawn back or let to hang so that no one could see him. There were pillows and cushions littering the inside and a half a dozen slaves to carry it, all of one height and specifically trained to march smoothly in step.

Yami frowned when the boy hesitated, then stated clearly "Come here." The boy slowly walked over to him, and without further ado, Yami pulled the boy into a sitting position and gave the signal for his servants to carry them back to his palace.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yugi was terrified, as he had been since Lady Kina said that the Dark Prince was now his master, though he had known it was coming. He had gladly seized the chance Kina offered him to gather his things. In all honesty, Yugi didn't own much, but he did want to take his practice clothes with him. With many of his previous masters, he would go for years without ever getting a change of cloths, and he had no idea if this would hold true outside the Mintaren complex.

As Yugi took off his wrist and ankle bells, he wrapped them in his beige practice pants so that they would remain quiet until his master required that he use them. It wasn't until a calm hand had made itself known on his shoulder that he realized he was crying, or that someone had come up behind him. Startled he quickly looked up to find Lady Kina behind him, a sad look on her face. Quickly he looked down and wiped the tears from his eyes, ashamed that she saw his weakness.

"It is alright, Yugi, I understand what you are feeling." Lady Kina said, her voice soft but full of emotion. "Trust me, all will be well or I would never have even offered you up like that." she said vehemently.

Yugi looked up into her eyes and blinked his tears away again. Lady Kina looked almost as bad as he felt, and for some reason that made him feel very guilty as well. He truly disliked causing her any pain. _I'm sorry_, he wanted to say, to tell her that though he didn't understand, he would forgive her, he always would.

"It is time to go, his Highness will be waiting for you." Lady Kina said, standing up straight. Yugi wiped the last traces of tears from his face before taking his bundle of practice pants and bells. "I will walk you to the courtyard, but I cannot go any further." she said, and they began walking. All too soon they reached the opening to the large courtyard, and Yugi could see the Dark Prince standing near a sedan chair that rested on the ground. "Go to him, Yugi, and remember all that I have taught you. It will become useful, I promise." Kina said, giving him a quick hug. Yugi struggled to master his tears again, and went forward to where the prince, his new master, waited.

"Come." was all that the prince said, and Yugi was confused for a moment wondering what the prince wanted him to do. "Come here." the prince said next, and Yugi was afraid as he approached the Dark Prince, wondering what he had done wrong already. He was not expecting to be pulled practically into the man's lap, or for the sedan to start moving immediately afterwards.

Yugi turned to take one last look at the place he had come to consider his home, before looking down to his hands, which he folded demurely in his lap. Much to his dismay, his hands were trembling violently, and Yugi clenched them together to get them to stop while he wondered if he was truly that afraid. When the Dark Prince shifted, he realized that yes, he was that afraid and more. He would be hurt again like he was before Lady Kina had rescued him, and discarded to someone else afterwards when his new master no longer wanted him, like before...

"Look at me." the Dark Prince suddenly commanded, in a tone that made Yugi flinch. Yugi took a breath before twisting his head and looking toward his new master, trying to settle his nerves. The first thing his mind registered about his new master was that he was not that much older than Yugi, if his chest and shoulders were anything to go by. "No, look at me." The Dark one commanded, and Yugi started trembling as he lifted his gaze inch by inch, waiting for his new master to tell him to stop.

He didn't. Yugi continued to lift his eyes until he was looking directly into the Dark Princes, amazed to find gorgeous Ruby eyes that were set in deeply tanned ochre skin. The Prince had golden colored bangs that were much like Yugi's though the rest of his hair had a more crimson tint to it rather than Lavender. Exhaling, Yugi quickly looked away, terrified to find that not only had he stared boldly into his master's eyes, but that he was trembling all over now.

Silently he waited for his new master to become angry with him.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yami watched eagerly as the boy looked up, being agonizingly slow about it. He could have purred with delight when he saw those beautiful, expressive, amethyst eyes focused on him again, though he was surprised when he saw a flash of fear before the boy looked away.

With a tenderness he hadn't known he possessed, he reached out and caressed the boy's cheek, running his thumb below the boy's lower lip. "Why do you fear me so, little one?" he asked when Yugi flinched. When Yugi flinched again, Yami mentally berated himself for his poor choice of words as he remembered that Yugi couldnt speak. Sighing with regret, Yami pulled Yugi the rest of the way into his lap and wrapped his arm around the boy's slender waist. Yami sighed again when Yugi tensed in his arms, and whispered in what he hoped was a soothing tone, "Shh... relax, I will not harm you."

It would have been amusing to watch Yugi try to unclench his tensed muscles, if it hadn't been so frustrating for Yami to try to calm the boy. After several minutes of silence though, Yugi began to relax more naturally, and Yami thought that he was finally getting through to him until he realized that the boy was struggling to stay awake. Yami felt a pang of sympathy as he realized that the boy must have had a very long morning already, though he didn't move for fear that he would jolt the boy back to full awareness.

When the boy's breathing evened out in the deep rhythms of sleep, Yami turned his attention to the near future and what he would do with his newest treasure. It took the rest of the time between when he left the Mintaren complex and when he returned to his palace for him to decide what to do.

Nodding his head decisively, Yami lifted his precious sleeping bundle and carried him through the back halls and servants' walkways to his room, where he gently deposited the boy on his bed. It wasn't like Yami actually used it very often; after all he was a nocturnal creature by nature and got plenty of sleep when court was in session. After lifting the blankets to cover his new slave, Yami thanked the Dark God that the boy hadn't wakened during the trip from the courtyard to his rooms before leaving and heading to the Dark Temple.

There were two temples in the Palace itself, The Temple of Light and the Dark Temple, each located on opposite ends of the property within the Palace grounds. Any closer and there would have been problems, and any further and they would be on opposite ends of the city for all practical purposes. Thankfully, Yami's own quarters were situated near the centre of the palace, so he only had to walk about a mile to get to the Dark Temple.

When he finally arrived, the inside of the temple was dark, as none of the candles or torches were lit and the windows were all very high on the walls. Yami walked in, leaving the warm afternoon sun behind him. (((It had taken several hours to get back to his palace from his little visit.))) It was refreshingly cool inside the temple, and as his eyes quickly adjusted to the lower lighting, Yami automatically searched out his friend Seto. It wasn't hard to find the slightly older man, as the Temple had no one else in it at all.

"Majesty, you're earlier than usual." Seto said, calling fire to a nearby candle to better illuminate the insides of the temple.

"Perhaps," Yami commented, hiding his smirk. He and his Seto played this game every time Yami came to the temple. He was always either early or late. "Why, am I disturbing you?"

"Not at all. You may come and go as you please," responded the brunette, in an offhanded tone that would have gotten anyone else executed, but from the High Priest of Darkness only made Yami laugh.

"If I didn't protect this place, those hypocrites from the Temple of Light would have destroyed it years ago," Yami stated, once he reigned back in his amusement.

"Right," Seto snorted, moving toward the back of the temple. "So, what's bothering you enough that you're here, this early in the day, instead of taking you usual nap in the Grand Audience chamber?" asked Yami's favorite priest.

"Well... I'm not truly sure, but I need some advice." Yami stated, shifting uncomfortably, before explaining the events of that morning and the emotions that had stirred within him. By the time he was done, he was blushing lightly, and Seto was laughing his ass off.

"It's not funny!" Yami snapped, looking away.

"It's alright Yami, there is never darkness without light," Seto informed him, after he calmed himself down.

"Perhaps, but does that make me weak?" Yami asked, musing out loud.

"Is Seto weak, for taking care of me for all these years?" a new voice said from the doorway of the Temple, and a boy of about fifteen entered. "Hi, Seto," Mokuba smiled at his brother as he stalked to the back of the large room where they were seated.

"Hello Mokuba, what trouble have you gotten into now?" asked the older of the brothers teasingly. "None, if you please!" Mokuba shot back in a mocking tone as he bypassed Seto and Yami, headed for the door to the back of the temple - where he and his brother lived. "I need to talk to you later though, ok?" he said before he closed the door behind him.

"What was that all about?" Yami asked.

"Mokuba is suffering through his first case of puppy love," explained Seto. "He hasn't gotten the courage up to talk to her yet though, and that's about all I know about the situation. Hopefully, he will tell me more later on."

"Isn't he a bit young for that?" Yami asked shrewdly.

"Weren't you as well?" Seto said, pointing out bluntly that Yami had been the same age when he first took a lover.

"I don't think so, besides it was only two years ago." Yami said nonchalantly. "And as the monarch of this country, I do believe I can do as I please when I choose a lover."

"Like this boy you were telling me about earlier?" Seto asked, "Even the Dark God has light in his heart," Seto reminded him when Yami tensed again.

"You refer to Malik, the God of Mercy and Innocent Love," Yami stated, well versed in the mythology surrounding The Dark God. "And consequently, one of the few gods to allow mortals like us to use his name."

"True. The Dark God teaches that strength is absolute and power is to be prized, but shows by example that it is acceptable to use that power to protect the ones we love." Seto explained.

"That still doesn't explain why I feel this way." Yami said, only slightly mollified.

"Who knows," Seto shrugged. "Perhaps the gods work in mysterious ways, or perhaps this boy's beauty has enthralled you," he teased gently, not afraid of the tyrant prince in the slightest. They had grown up together after all, and Seto knew that Yami was nowhere near being truly angry yet.

"Stop teasing and tell me what I do about it!" Yami snapped irritably.

"That depends entirely, I think, on what exactly you feel for him and what you want to do about it," Seto started. "Do you want him to be happy or do you just want him? Does he strike you as a person or a possession?"

Yami thought about it for several long moments before coming to a decision for himself.

"Do you feel up to a game of chess?" Seto asked, quite out of the blue.

"No, I think I should get back before my new slave wakes up," Yami responded, politely excusing himself once he came out of his thoughtful introspection. "Perhaps . . . later." It was one of the things he did to relax, playing games with Seto. They both liked games of all kinds, and frequently got together at the temple to play them.

"Very well. I will see you later." Yami made his way out of the Temple and to his rooms.

**_XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP_**

Seto watched Yami leave and hoped that his words had gotten through to the young ruler who was his best friend. He had just turned from the temple door when he remembered that Mokuba had wanted to talk to him.

"Hey, Mokuba," Seto called quietly, walking into his brother's room at the back of the temple.

"Yeah, Seto?" inquired the youth from his position on his bed, where he was reading a book.

"You said earlier that you wanted to talk, and I don't know about you but my schedule is free right now," replied the priest of darkness, walking in and sitting down by his brother.

"So Yami left already?" Mokuba asked sardonically, putting his book aside as Seto rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Yami left, though I fail to see what that has to do with this situation. So what did you want to talk about, squirt?" Seto demanded teasingly.

"Well... its about that girl I like..." Mokuba started, looking down at his hands in front of him.

"Ah, I see. So, have you finally decided to tell me who she is?"

"Uhmm... about that. I don't know how to say this, but she is really nice from what I've seen, and very pretty too, but... I'm afraid you might not approve of who she is..." Mokuba explained haltingly before he trailed off.

"Mokuba, she's not that snob Tae, Priestess Anzu's daughter is it?" Seto asked, dread beginning to creep up in him. Tae was about Mokuba's age, but unlike Mokuba, who seemed like an angel in comparison, she was a self-righteous little bitch who thought that Mokuba and Seto were lower than trash because of their fathers origins.

"Hell NO!!!" Mokuba said, and Seto let out a sigh of relief.

"Then I probably won't mind to much as long as she isn't a follower of those hypocritical gods of light." Seto reassured his brother.

"I don't think she is, but that's not the problem," Mokuba said, and then he gathered his nerve for a moment, and said, "Seto, she's a slave." With that, the fifteen-year-old boy looked down, blushing.

"Mokuba," Seto started, sighing, and Mokuba cringed slightly, expecting his brother to disapprove. "You don't like her just because she is a pretty slave do you?"

"No," Mokuba said, a little confused by his brother's tone.

"Then I don't mind. If you thought I would disapprove just because she is a slave, you have forgotten our father's beginnings." Seto said. Their father had been a slave who had saved the life of King Kage when letting him die would have freed him, and as a reward, he and his family had been freed. Their father had become the old king's bodyguard and died in his service, a few days before Mokuba had been born. Seto had met Yami shortly afterwards, and a little while after that had been apprenticed to the previous Dark Priest. When Seto's mother had died, he had taken in Mokuba and cared for him, and when the former Dark Priest "disappeared" Seto had become the high priest of the Dark Temple in the Palace.

However, because Seto followed a different but just as bloodthirsty path than the few other Dark Priests, others shunned him. It was no big deal to Seto, he had his family, and his best friend, and for now that was enough.

"I'm glad bro," sighed a relieved Mokuba. "I really like her, but I don't know how to talk to her."

"Well, I could bring her to the temple if she has any abilities." Seto offered. "What's her name?"

"I uh... I don't know actually," Mokuba grinned, sheepish. "She is really pretty though, about the same age as me, with long brown hair like yours, and lovely blue eyes, and she normally works in the kitchen." Mokuba explained.

"Hm... well, this is a rare hair color around here." Seto said, and it was true. Most people had black hair and dark brown eyes. "I'll see what I can do about her. Is there anything else you need right now?"

"No," Mokuba replied, before picking up his book again. "Thanks Seto."

"Not a problem." Seto said, ruffling Mokuba's long hair before he left.

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Aaries: That is a Hella long chapter...

Chaos: Sorry about it taking so long to type, but we skipped over quite a few things in the written version and it was a little confusing for us to sort out what is staying and what is being ripped out.

Jef: Okay, here are the review replies.

To **kenshinfan21**: Sorry for the cliffie, but this should make up for it. It is a REALLY long chapter, and we are sorry but it took forever to write.

Chroni: ((Sighs)) and for me to get to edit . . . ((To everyone)) I swear I'll check my email more. I SWEAR I'll check my email more.

To **Osiris-Lee**: Thank you SOOO much!! Sorry it was so short, but this hopefully makes up for it? Don't worry too much about Kina; she is taken by one of the less likely characters and its only mentions like once or twice if that. You're the ONLY one who left an opinion about Dragons' Legacy, thank you very much. We probably will end up posting the chapters alternately when we post Dragons' Legacy. Thank you sooo much for actually letting us know what you thought about the other story.

To **tiger witch**: Thank you so much for reviewing and we are really glad you like it. Here is the next chapter, please enjoy!!

To **Yana5**: No, Yugi can't talk at all. But he will develop a form of telepathy later on, first with Yami, and then the rest of the world.

To **Amber Eyes23**: Don't worry, our Ego is under strict control. Yea, but he will develop a link with Yami very soon, within two chapters or so the way things are going.

To **madhatter**: YOU FINALLY REVIEWED!!!! YAAAAAYYYY!!! ((Is REALY REALLY happy you finally reviewed and hopes that you will review again)) I FINALLY GOT MY BEST FRIEND TO REVIEW!!! YYYAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!

To **Pharaoh Atemu's Angel**: Here is the update, longer and better than ever.

To **SoulDreamer**: Thanks, we are really glad you like all the descriptions we put in there. We weren't sure how that was going to come out, or if anyone would even like it. Hopefully, this chapter is just as good as the others in that department.

To **Blazekin**: Here ya go!! Hope you like!!

To **Tiara Shin**: Here's what happened, we are glad you liked it!! Melts to a puddle of goo under you and Yugi's puppy eyes, but eyes Yami warily Uh... I just can't see puppy eyes on his face... it doesn't work...at all... Well here's more!!

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reviewers added After Beta reading !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

To **I Forget**: Thanks for comeing back, and we are sorry about your grandmother. Of course your forgiven. thanks, your jelousy makes us feel importaint and we are realy glad you like this.

To **YamiNeko**: Here's the update, dont know if it qualifies as soon, but its definetly longer. Oooooooohh... A knife!!! We like knives.. ((PR steals the knife and runs off to play with it))

Aaries: _**HEY!!!! IN CASE YOU DIDNT READ AT THE TOP, LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT DRAGONS LEGACY!!!!!!!!**_

Jef: And please review. Thank you.

Chroni: I would like to apologize to everyone. I'm a bad person. I say I'll do things, and I put them off. Like the English homework I'm supposed to be doing right now. I'm sorry I don't check my email as often anymore, especially because my inbox is close to overflowing...which is not of the good. I hope you like what I've done with the chapter.


	6. Chapter Six

Aaries: Okay, we're _REALLY_ sorry about this being so late. We wanted to post it by last Monday, but if being lazy wasn't bad enough, there was a power surge Saturday morning and we lost what we had been working on before we went to work.

Chaos: which was approximately half the chapter... grumbles

Jef: thankfully none of the permanent memory archives in our computer were damaged, though I doubt anyone will care about that part... Oh well.

Aaries: this chapter is a little bit shorter than it should be.

Angel: Anyways, Warnings: it's slightly fluffy and more than a little pointless. But there was no other way.

Chaos: yea, like that makes any sense... Oh well. Hey, Join **SCOURGE**!!!!!! Hehehehe...

Jef: anyways, here's the sixth chapter, sorry about it being late and short. We will try to have chapter two of Dragon's Legacy out by Monday, but we refuse to be held responsible for anyone who develops brain damage because they tried to hold their breath for it.

Aaries: Oh yeah, and thanks again to Choni - if it weren't for her, you wouldn't be getting chapters nearly as good as what we manage to post.

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Yugi was warm, not freezing or overheated as was the norm, and comfortable. But more importantly, he couldn't for the life of him remember any reason that he would be either of those things. The pallets that the slaves slept on at the Mintaren complex were no where near this comfortable, and were in a building that was quite exposed to the elements. That's when Yugi remembered - he had been given away.

Warily, Yugi opened his eyes, and found himself in a tangle of soft blankets and pillows. The last thing he consciously remembered was sitting in the Dark Prince's lap and being held close by the monarch. Quietly as he could, Yugi sat up and looked around with a strange mingling of fear and morbid curiosity. He was in a very large, well decorated room, with big windows and rich looking, gauzy curtains that fluttered in a warm afternoon breeze. Beautiful rich tapestries hung on all of the walls, and there were tables and storage cabinets lining the walls.

"Ah, I see you're awake now," a rich, deep voice said from the doorway, startling Yugi. He looked over to see his new master standing in a doorway, the door pushed half-open in front of him. Quickly, Yugi looked back down to his hands and folded them in his lap. Yugi barely heard the prince walk toward him, his already light footsteps muffled by a thick carpet. "Did you sleep well?" the prince asked, startling the mute slave boy.

Hesitantly, Yugi nodded; terrified of being hurt and confused as to why the Dark Prince cared whether he slept well or not. As Yugi was thinking, a warm hand cupped his cheek and Yugi tensed immediately. He was (quite sensibly) afraid of upsetting his master, but even more afraid of what the gesture might mean. The hand cupping his face gently tilted his head up, and Yugi closed his eyes in fear of the unknown.

"Open your eyes, little one," the Dark Prince ordered, and Yugi felt terror and an odd longing to see the prince's garnet, unblinking stare.

Yugi opened his eyes slowly, not knowing what to do or expect. The hand still cupped his face gently, but with enough force for Yugi to know that he wouldn't be able to look away until his master let him.

_**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yami was fairly certain of his decision on the boy's coming gift, but he wanted to see Yugi's beautiful, soulful amethyst eyes again first. When he had arrived back to his chambers, he had been startled to see the boy sitting up, though it was logical. Yami knew what he wanted to do, and so acted, instead of waiting.

"Ah, I see you're awake now," Yami said from the doorway, making certain catch his slave's attention before approaching him. Yugi seemed so afraid of him, and it hurt somewhere in Yami's chest to see the boy that way. "Did you sleep well?" Yami asked, trying to be kind, though it seemed to startle the boy even further. Yugi was obviously terrified, and suddenly Yami wanted to ease the boy's fears. A most unfamiliar emotion.

As gently as he knew how, Yami tilted the boy's face upwards so that he could see the mute's eyes again. Yugi's eyes were closed tightly and Yami saw the obvious fear written in every line of the boys face.

"Open your eyes, little one," Yami said quietly, wanting desperately to see into the lavender depths of the boys soul so he could decide what to do with him. Yugi slowly opened his eyes, and Yami managed to lose himself in their depths, glimpsing a powerful mind and an intelligence that astounded him. There was gentleness and kindness hidden under a veil of fear, laced with something akin to iron. "So beautiful," Yami thought, not realizing he had voiced this thought until the boy jerked away from him, startled.

Sighing, Yami released the slave's face and turned away. "Come," he commanded as softly as he could, leading Yugi to another one of the rooms in his suite. It was little more than a storage room, the fundamental difference from any royal treasury being that it held things that were for Yami, and Yami alone, to decide to employ. Things like the royal seal, which only members of Yami's bloodline could use, and pendants of power for Yami to draw on if ever he felt weary or had worn out his own magics in some endeavor or another. The rest were mere trinkets, for the most part, that Yami had never needed and doubted he ever would need.

The particular trinket he wanted now was one that his ancestors had used to distinguish their favored slaves and servants. Almost all previous rulers of Egypt had had favorite slaves and servants whom they would reward with a special status, though they gave and took it at their whim. Dust lay over most of the items in the room, since all Yami had needed in the last few years was the royal seal. Still, he found what he was looking for in a far corner of the room. It was a simple, curving gold armband with a ruby on the centre of the five spirals, and at first glance it was nothing special. However, when you looked closer, you would see small, yet perfect, black gems surrounding the ruby, and at the ends of the gold. Looking closer still you would see beautiful patterns etched into the gold itself, so small and intricate as to be thought scratches at first. They were runes of power, written in the oldest of magical languages, long ago by the dark god himself - or so legends said. Powerful protection magics had been woven into the armband, that much was obvious to any one gifted with any kind of magic. Yami reached out, lifted the armband from the satin pillow it had been resting on, and blew the dust from it, creating a small, hazy cloud.

Yami turned to Yugi, noting with some happiness that the boy had actually followed him, though Yami had expected as much. "This is for you, to mark that you are mine and mine alone. No other shall touch you without your permission, or harm you without mine," Yami explained as he slipped the band onto Yugi's arm. The ornament had seemed far to large for the boy at first, but it molded perfectly to his skin as if it belonged there, when Yami put it on him. That was another of the magics imbued into the band, to fit whomever the current dark prince deemed worthy of the honor of being his favored.

Yami watched his slave attentively, wondering how he would react. Confusion, curiosity, and apprehension were written in every line of Yugi's body, and Yami realized with amusement that the boy had no idea what Yami had just given him or why. _**XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXP**_

Yugi stared in wonder at the armband that the Dark Prince had given him, wondering what it meant and why it had been given to him. It was beautiful and as far as Yugi knew worth far more than he was. Unable to stop himself Yugi looked up to the Dark Prince, for the first time seeking out the others eyes of his own will. Unbeknownst to him, the question in his own eyes was clear and obvious as day to the monarch. The Dark Prince merely smiled in a calm and caring way that Yugi never thought that he would see again when he left lady Kina.

Then, a very insistent itch made itself known in Yugi's nose and Yugi looked away embarrassed as he sneezed, immediately bringing his hand to cover his face as a reflex. The poor slave boy had no idea what to expect from his master at this or what indeed he did expect, but he knew for certain that he never expected his master to start chuckling at him. It was a deep sensual sound that sent tremors throughout his entire body.

"Come, Yugi, let us get you out of this dust." The Dark Prince said when his chuckles subsided. Yugi nodded, and noting with amazement that the Dark Prince had used his name, followed the other back to the bedchamber. The Dark Prince was just about to sit down when a tentative knock from the door drew his attention, and the young monarch looked up to see a young aid standing there and trembling.

"Speak." the Prince commanded, sounding slightly annoyed.

"S-s-sire, th-the advisors are w-waiting f for their p-p-promised appointment." The aid managed to stammer out.

"Tell them I shall be there shortly." The Dark One commanded coldly, dismissing the boy. When the aid was gone he turned to Yugi. "I want you to stay in these rooms for the rest of the day and not wander off. Keep that armband on at all times unless I give you express permission to remove it. I will be back soon little one."

Yugi nodded, more confused than ever as his master left the room. When his master was gone and the door was closed, Yugi walked over to a warm patch of sunlight and sat down in it, not knowing what else to do right now. The sun was warm but not to hot with a cool breeze blowing in from the gardens, and Yugi fell asleep sitting there thinking about all that was happening to him.

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Aaries: Uhmm.... for being late and all... that was crap.

Chaos: who cares, it's going up, because if we try to revise it, it'll end up even worse. And on the bright side, it's not nearly as lacking as the original written version.

Jef: Oh dear gods, do not remind us. ((Shudders at the lack of detail and planning in the written version))

Aaries: anywho, REVIEW REPLIES!!!!! Yayness!!!!!!

To Yana5: Huh? I'm sorry, but Yugi cant talk and we are really confused.... Please explain what you mean?

To Amber Eyes23: If you've got Ideas send them on over. We do have most of it planned out, but we don't really like all that we are have done for this story and quite a bit of it is up for revision. Both stories are going at the same time, and the first chapter of Dragons Legacy is up for people to see. But you already knew that ((winks)) By the way, we want to give you a prize or something for being the first to review Dragon, but we'll get to that in the relevant story, so look forward to next weeks posting (((but do not, repeat, do NOT hold your breath for it))) Yes, our Ego is under control.... its the seize of a kitten... Oh well, hope you enjoyed, though it was Short.

To Kenshinfan21: Indeed, but he doesn't know that yet now does he? ((Amused)) don't worry, they will figure it out before Jou shows up.

To Slate Grey: Yea, we like Yami that way too, but that doesn't mean he isn't prone to temper tantrums. One of them is Key to the story line. Oh well, even he cant be prefect ALL the time. And Yami's interest will only grow more pronounced as they spend more time together, as is only fitting of course. We are so glad you like it, and here is the next chapter.

To Osiris-Lee: ((LOL)) Yes, we can tell you were hyper when you wrote the review. Don't worry; we get like that a lot too. Yes, Jou will be a slave, but not until after his entire life is ripped forcefully away from him and shattered. Hehehe... oops... Don't worry, he gets freed by Seto then they get it on. But that's all going to be in Dragon. Thanks for reviewing that BTW. YES!! The duel monsters will be pretty important, though only Jou and Shizuka and two or four others will be able to summon them completely into the real world by the end of Dragon and Dark. Other people will be able to draw on their aspects and strengths and such, but beyond that nothing can be promised yet. Here's more!!! And Dragon is now posted, as you have realized. We will tell you more about that when we update Dragon, ok? ((Winks))

To I Forget: heheh... we get the same way of sugar rushes and stuff, so it's ok. Hope you didn't have a hangover or anything. Wow, your muses are nicer than my muses. Well, we hope you like this, and we are glad you liked last chapter.

To Tiara Shin: here's the next chapter!!! ((Smiles WAY to brightly)) Kawaii!!!! ((huggle glomps you and Yugi)) Yep, Marik as a dark god... It's all going to be in the fourth Legacy, which we shall shorthand to Moon. It'll take a while to get that up, considering that each installment of Legacy will have at least a dozen chapters, probably more. Here ya are, and we hope you enjoyed.

To SoulDreamer: You probably have read it before, we posted it like a year ago and it got taken down. Now we are re-posting it with MAJOR revisions. Yea, it would be cool to be able to do Italics in the reviews.... ((sighs)) oh well. Hope you liked this chapter.

To meluvugi: He he... it was getting interesting wasn't it? Hope this lives up to it.

To tiger witch: Love or Lust? Good question, because right now even Yami isn't sure. As for us, well we know... But sore wa himitsu desu!!! ((Smirks like Xellos)) About being possessive... Yea... You'll see that that is something of an understatement. Yami will keep Yugi as close to him for as long as he can. And Yugi wouldn't be so paranoid if he didn't have a really bad past now would he? It just wouldn't fit in with the story, besides we like torturing the cute little uke bishie so that the seme bishie can comfort them and then we can get to the good stuff. Great Gods no Mokuba's crush is NOT Tea!!! He even says as much to Seto. Besides Tea has short hair, Mokuba's crush has long hair. She will show up next chapter, we promise.

To Tayko: We are glad you like it, and she will show up next chapter we promise. You will probably figure it out as soon as she shows up and we do so love to give out surprises.

To Kyra Windwood: Yep!!! ((Smiles uber-brightly)) You'll probably see her next chapter.

((Added after Bettaing)) To Neo-QueenRini1: We can be the same about updating sometimes, hehehe... As for Malik Being a god, its kind of esental to the story line to have a dark god that almost everyone sees as Evil but all powerfull, but in love with another god, and Marik and Malik fit the role well. We will explain much more thouroughly in Moon, we promise.

Angel: And that, as they say, is that. Review and let us know what you think.

Jef: By the way, **SCOURGE** stands for Secret Council of Unlawful Renegades Gathering Evil. Chaos mentioned it earlier, but we stole it from a friend, with his permission though he stole it from somewhere else. Oh well.

PR: JUST-REVIEW-ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	7. Chapter Seven

Aaries: ((opens mouth to start AN with some kind of witty banter, then closes mouth again))

Chaos: ((watches Aaries repeat her actions while thinking of a fish out of water ))

Jef: ((thinks that is a very apt analogy))

PR: IF-YOU-WANT-WORDS-FROM-THEM-SKIP-TO-THE-BOTTOM-OR-SOMETHING-BUT-FOR-NOW-WE-HAVE-NO-EXCUSE-AND-NO-WAY-TO-DODGE-THE-FLAMES-THAT-WILL-LIKELY-COME-OF-THE-REALLYREALLYREALLYREALLY-LONG-DELAY!!!

* * *

The sun was low in the sky when Yugi awoke again, still sitting where he had fallen asleep. Yawning, he stretched out, working the kink's out of his muscles, before looking around to see if his master was back yet. When the beautiful ruler turned out to be nowhere in sight, Yugi sighed and wondered what he was supposed to do now. His stomach rumbled a moment latter and Yugi realized that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning at the Minatrens. Blushing, Yugi looked around, wondering what he was supposed to do about it. 

Yugi had just decided that there was nothing he could do about it because his master had told him not to leave these rooms. A few moments later, Yugi heard someone clear their throats at the door. Turning, Yugi saw a girl there with long brown hair and big blue eyes. She wore a slave's collar and was dressed in a sleeveless dress that cut off at her knees. She wasn't much older than Yugi, probably around fourteen or fifteen.

"Uhmm... hi, I'm Shizuka." she said quietly. "You're Dark Prince Yami's new slave, right? I thought you might be hungry, since you've been in here all day, so I got permission to bring some food up to you," she said, coming into the room. "What's your name?" she asked, and Yugi almost flinched.

Yugi mimed talking then shook his head, also mouthing the words. -I can't talk- Shizuka looked confused for a moment, before he made the motions again and it dawned on her.

"Oh, you can't talk?" she asked, and when Yugi nodded she blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She seemed genuinely sorry about bringing it up, and Yugi just shook his head, trying to convey that it was alright. "Here." she said suddenly, holding out a tied napkin to him. "It's the same thing we had for dinner in the kitchens. We generally get pretty good food here, because we work directly for the Dark Prince," she explained as he gingerly took it.

Yugi curiously opened the bundle, to reveal a half a loaf of bread and a mid-sized chunk of cheese. He stared at it for a moment, until it sunk in what she had handed him, and he looked at her curiously.

"It really is what we had for dinner, I know most slaves don't get such fare, but like I said, we get fresh food here, instead of refuse, because we work in the palace." Shizuka explained.

-Thank you- Yugi mouthed, as he gratefully started eating.

* * *

When Yami returned to his rooms that evening, he was chuckling darkly to himself. He had been in an uncharacteristically good mood during the meeting, while musing about his new slave. Proof of his good mood could be realized in the fact that most of the advisors still had not only their lives, but also their positions and titles still to their name. Yami was still mostly musing about his slave though, wondering what to do with him when he wasn't there with him. He briefly considered housing him in the harem dorms down the hall from his suite, but decided against it, as the entire dorm was empty right now - and besides, he wanted the boy near him. 

Yami knew it was strange for him to give the boy his personal mark on the first day of owning him, especially when he had never given that mark to a slave before, but Yami really did want to protect him. Yami was almost to his quarters when he heard someone talking in his rooms and paused by the door to listen in for a moment.

".. and that's why I usually work in the kitchens now, but I don't mind much because master Solomon, the cook, really is nice, not at all like Mistress Anzu," the speaker sounded like a young girl, probably a slave of some kind and Yami stepped into the room so he could see who it was.

There was a slave girl who was talking to Yugi, who was smiling as he chewed on a piece of bread. The girl had long brown hair the same color as Seto's, and a fair complexion. Yami cleared his throat to make his presence known, and the girl looked up and meeped meekly when he raised his eyebrow questioningly. She looked down at her hands as if she was afraid that Yami would have her thrown into the dungeons and tortured without a chance to explain herself, and Yami wanted to roll his eyes in exasperation. He wasn't THAT bad, (was he? a small voice persisted) that had been his father.

"May I inquire as to why you are here?" he asked her politely, though Yugi seemed to be getting very nervous.

"I...I brought him something to eat because I saw him come in earlier and you're the only one who's come and gone in these rooms, Master," she said quietly, her words nervous and unsure. Yami suddenly wanted to slap himself in the head, wondering why he hadn't thought of the smaller boy's needs, such as food, earlier.

"Thank you, that was very considerate," Yami replied, a sincere note in his voice, though he did control it so that it wouldn't be too warm to her. "You may go now." The young girl was startled, but nodded and bowed briefly before leaving the room.

"You seem to have made a friend already," Yami smiled at Yugi, who seemed unsure about how to answer this statement. "It's alright, I don't mind. It's late, are you tired?" inquired the prince. Yugi hesitated, but nodded anyway, and Yami could tell he was more afraid now than he had been before. "Don't worry, little one, I will not harm you," Yami sighed, trying to set the boy more at ease, though it seemed not to work. Yami took the boy's hand and gently led him to the bed, pushing him to a sitting position and sitting near him. "Please, you have no need to fear me. Rest, I will not harm you."

Yugi nodded, uncertainty evident in his posture, and lay down. Yami watched him for a second as he closed his eyes and tried to even his breathing. "Rest little one, no harm shall come to you here," Yami said quietly after extinguishing the lamps in the room. He then decided that now would be a good time to take Seto up on that offer to play chess that he had extended earlier. After quickly checking on his slave again, Yami left to find his friend and perhaps work a little of his sudden nervousness away in a game.

* * *

Aaries: Wow... all that wait and this is filler crap. 

Chaos: Not just any filler crap, but super filler crap.

Aaries: Sorry, we've been really, really distracted lately, and that's only a little bit of an understatement.

Jef: What she means to say is that we have had a sudden welling of free time on our hands and absolutely no inspiration for this particular fic, or, for that matter, any Legacy fic. Meaning, expect all future updates to be rather sporadic, please.

Aaries: Now that that's over, how about the review replies. This will be the last time they are all answered individually unless there are questions in the reviews, but we will still thank everyone at the end of chapters.

Chroni: Thank Ra for that . . . editing review replies is tedious and unrewarding . . . for me, at least, perhaps some of you reap benefits . . . ((trails off into angry mutters))

To Amber Eyes23: If we said that, then it is so. About the prize, don't hold your breath for that either. ((Embarrassedly scratches back of head.)) However, we have got a GW fic that's pounding itself out of our brain that we could tribute to you if you like. It's that, or wait for a while longer. This probably counts as too short doesn't it? Well, it does for us at least...

To kenshinfan21: Eeep!!! NO!! Teletubies are the purest form of tortureous EVIL that exists!!!! Thanks for the kind review and round about death threat though. ((grins)) We are glad you liked the last chapter though and hope this one wasnt too much of a let down for the long wait.

To tiger witch: Glad you like it. ((Smiles))

To yaminakathy: Glad you liked it, even though this update is anything but ASAP. ((Is chagrined))

To Osiris-Lee: This chapter is just as bad a last chapter. ((Cries.)) The armband will come in handy once or twice. About two more chapters before I can work the Yami/Yugi link into this, maybe... And yea... as for Dragon... don't kill us, please, but it might be a little while. We are still trying to... well, do something with the time-lapse, actually. About fanart: HECK YEA WE WOULD LOVE SOME!!!! ((Jumps up and down crazy.)) That's if you're still willing to give it to us, though. We would have nowhere to put it on the net, but we would print it out and layer our RL room with it!!! ((Sighs dreamily.)) In our experience, everybody has trouble with feet. Please E-mail it to us if you can.

To xamosy: Yes, Yami is a bit obsessed with Yugi right now, and yes, it is a good thing. Yeah, a little bit of both. Hope this isn't too much of a disappointment.

To rainystar186: Sorry, we didn't mean for it to be lacking in detail and short besides, but we are glad you like our expression of Yami.

To KNT: We are really glad you like it, here's more.

To Tayko: Uhm... did we say that? ((Is trying to remember what we said about the girly)) Well, we hope this chapter answers who she is, and we are VERY sorry about it taking so long, its not Chroni's fault, honestly. Chroni: Honestly. I'm editing at 6:00 a.m. my time to send it off before I go to school.

To Neo-QueenRini1: ((Hopes your teachers are nice too so you can write at home and glomps the generous plushies)) Was it an adrenaline rush or a sugar high? ((Smiles.)) Yep!! Armband will be a bit more important later on. As for Seto, and what he thinks of Yugi, well, Sore Wa Himitsu Desu! ((Smiles in a wired Xellos kind of way)) Marik and Malik will come in much, much later in the story line, quite a bit after Dark and Dragon, actually, so it's a secret about them too.

To Yana5: Glad you liked it. ((Smiles))

To YugiYamiforever: It's ok to be lazy once in a while. We're glad you like, and sorry about the really long wait and very short chapter.

To kristen89: Here ya go, sorry it wasn't faster coming.

To Hikari's-dark-side-08: Kawaii!! Well... not exactly, I think we put it in there somewhere that Yugi is mute. He can't talk to anyone yet, though he does find ways to communicate with people. Bakura and Ryou come in during Legacy of Light, the sequel to this, and Joey is Jou in Dragons Legacy, the sidefic to this. Marik and Malik don't come in until the last story, the one after Legacy of Light, so its going to be a while. Hope you like this.

To Animegoddess800: Here's the update, sorry about it taking so long.

To Dark Guardian24: We like the plot. Here's the update.

To Marina-Kashu: We're glad you like it.

Aaries: If Chroni still agrees to beta this, then she's a saint. Okay, well here you are, please oh please don't try to kill us or anything, lack of inspiration due to lazy, lazy muses is something that happens often right? Right? ((is slightly panicked and on the edge of a break down))

Chaos: that and Aaries is still guilty about the death of Blaze, her pet rat a few weeks ago. Please review and have mercy on the lazy authoress. (and Chroni is a Saint, BTW)


	8. Chapter Eight

Aaries: Okay, we are REALY REALY sorry about last chapter being crap and all. However, we are determened to keep this going, I swear it will be finished!!!......... eventualy.And Im realy sorry that it took this long to post, our CPU went on the fritz and we didnt get this back and ready to upload untill yesterday. Im so sorry

Chaos: How many chapters are we going to have in this anyways?

Aaries: right now, looks like about twenty, give or take about five. And the next three chapters or so are going to contain a LOT of pure, concentrated, liquid FLUFF between Yami and Yugi, lots of WAFFs. Its part of their bonding process and Yugi is going to come to trust Yami a bit more. I promise I will work their mind link into it within the next two chapters.

Jef: and now without further wait, which you probably realy dont want, We present, chapter eight.

* * *

Yami spent several hours playing various strategy games with Seto and discussing plans for his new slave and about looking into Mokuba's crush. When he finally returned to his quarters a few hours before dawn, he found his little slave sleeping peacefully, curled into a small ball in the center of his bed. After watching him for a few minutes, Yami yawned and changed into his sleeping cloths before slipping under the covers with the small boy. No harm would come from sleeping like this and Yami was admittedly tired. 

However Yami's heart melted when he realized that the small boy was shivering in the slight chill in the room, despite the light covers. Gently Yami pulled the slave to him, wrapping him in a protective embrace. After a few moments the boy stopped shivering and Yami fell into a deep and comforting sleep, dreaming.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dream sequence

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami stood in a field of strange flowers that he had never seen before, and the sky was strangely dark, with no stars to light it.

-_**Stars exist only in the Human world**_- a voice that was not a voice said, and wildly Yami looked around for the source of it. A short distance behind him a tall man in deep purple robes stood, carrying a tall staff. His hair and eyes were also dark shades of purple.

"What is this, and what's going on?" Yami asked him. "And who are you?"

-_**For now it is suffice to say I am a messenger. Great things are at work, and my Masters wish to warn you to keep him safe**_.- It still felt as if no words were being spoken, but somehow Yami knew that the man in purple was the one speaking.

"Who?" Yami asked in confusion, before his mind conjured a picture of Yugi. The purple clad man nodded, and for a moment Yami wondered how he knew what Yami was thinking.

-_**Yes, him. Remember my words and take heed to my warning**_.- The wind picked up suddenly, taking the petals of the flowers and causing a blinding storm in a matter of seconds. When the wind slowed and the flower petals settled, the man in purple was no where to be seen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End dream sequence

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Yugi awoke slowly, warm and content for the first time he could remember, and futilely tried to cling to that sense of safety he felt between sleeping and waking. Slowly and grudgingly Yugi opened his eyes to greet the new day, and in the warm morning saw a warm hued expanse of lightly tanned skin. 

All feelings and thoughts of safety gone now, Yugi tensed to pull away before realizing who held him in his sleep. Yugi had to tilt his head up to see his masters face, and Yugi took this opportunity to examine his master more closely.

A thousand questions circled through Yugi's mind, questions that the small slave boy could think of no answers for. Why was he here? Why was his master being so kind to him? What about Shizuka from the night before, was she ok or had she gotten in trouble? What would his new master want him to do specifically?

Sighing, Yugi realized that he needed to stretch before his legs cramped. He was used to being up a few hours before dawn and doing his morning exercises so he could go to his classes in the afternoons, but he didn't know what was expected of him now. Yugi stretched as he could where he lay, trying not to awaken his master. As he stretched a bit, Yugi surreptitiously tried to wriggle out of his master's grasp, however this only resulted in his master tightening his grip.

"Hmm... mine." his master murmured sleepily, nestling his face into Yugi's spiky, soft lavender highlighted hair. Yugi didn't know how to react to that, or what to make of it either. His master sighed then, and a few moments later the arms holding Yugi loosened some and pulled away, allowing Yugi to look up and see his masters face.

Yugi immediately looked away again, embarrassed and ashamed at having been caught looking at his master, but his master didn't seem upset with him. "Good morning, little one. Did you sleep well?" Yugi's master asked him as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Yugi nodded, also sitting up, and wondering how he would ask what his duties were. "Good." The older boy yawned slightly, then rose all the way and stalked to another room for a moment, and Yugi took the opportunity to get up and begin his stretches in an empty space on the floor.

When his master returned to the room a few moments latter, Yugi was sitting and reaching forward beyond his feet, bending himself almost in half at the waist. When Yugi returned his attention to his master, he noticed that he was wearing a fresh set of robes, in black and gold, very similar to the robes he had worn the previous day. He didn't seem upset with Yugi for continuing his stretches when he walked in, but then again Yugi didn't know him very well yet, and didn't know what expressions qualified as what yet.

Looking down nervously, Yugi waited for his master to give him an order or command.

* * *

Yami felt a deep warmth in his heart when he came back into the room to see Yugi stretching on the floor. The child was so limber and graceful, and so breathtakingly beautiful as well. He also looked sad though, and confused. Carefully, so he wouldn't scare the boy, Yami approached Yugi, and sat down next to the boy. "You are sad, little one?" Yami asked, and Yugi nodded hesitantly. "Try not to be. And you have no need to fear, I give my word that no harm will come to you here." 

Yugi nodded, though he looked confused as well as sad now. Sighing, Yami pulled the smaller boy into an embrace, wanting to hold the little one, and try to reassure him at the same time. Yugi tensed as Yami pulled him close, but began to relax after a few moments as Yami did nothing else. "Trust me please." Yami asked, wondering how to prove he was sincere.

A moment later, as Yami struggled to come up with some way to earn Yugi's trust, there was a loud knock at the door. Yami gently released the boy from his grasp and stood up, growling under his breath.

"This had better be damned good." He said as he opened the doors to his room. "What do you want?" he demanded, before looking at who stood there.

"High lord, there is a matter that requires your attention immediately at the Dark temple." Shadi said. His usual turban was somehow missing right now, and his long hair hung freely to his waist, giving Yami the impression that it probably was important. "The priests of light are protesting, and were behaving quite violently before I left." Shadi explained, and with a curse Yami pushed past the advisor and made his way quickly to the temple.

Indeed the entire congregation of light was in the garden inside the temple walls, but locked out of the temple itself. Priestess Anzu was at the front, and was also the loudest of the assembled priests and priestesses, though it was impossible to make out what anyone was actually saying. When she saw Yami, she immediately rushed over to him and began to talk, and Yami had a hard time hearing her above the rest of the congregation.

"That little bastard gave my daughter insult, and I demand that he be punished!!" She screeched, but Yami ignored her and continued forward into the temple. When she and a few of the priests tried to follow him, they were stopped by a barrier, one that Yami recognized as a spell to allow only those who believed in the dark god and his consort into the temple. Ignoring the offended priests behind him, Yami continued into the interior of the temple. When Yami made it past the threshold, the din from outside was notably muted and he could hear someone crying near the back of the temple. Swiftly the monarch went to his friend, who held a crying Mokuba in his arms.

"Its alright, the harpies wont get you in here." Seto was reassuring Mokuba, rocking him a bit and patting his back soothingly.

"What happened?" Yami asked, sitting on the other side of the bench where Seto and Mokuba sat.

"Hello Yami, we were expecting you, though not this early." Seto said to him. "Tae claimed insult from Mokuba this morning when he didn't greet her properly in the hall outside one of the lesser audience chambers. Her mother, Anzu, was nearby and they chased Mokuba back here, calling him an, and I quote, 'uncivilized heathen, raised by and uncultured bastard pretender'. The other priests caught wind of it and came to back her up." Seto explained disdainfully.

"They are calling you both much worse than that from what I heard outside." Yami said ruefully.

"I don't doubt it. After they chased back here and began to insult us, I had to erect the barrier to get them out because they were on the verge of insulting the dark god, and did insult his consort Malik." Seto said, explaining the barrier. "That is behavior that cannot be tolerated in this place."

"I agree my friend." Yami said, turning to Mokuba. "Why didn't you greet Tae?" he asked.

"S.. she s..snuck up on m.. me." Mokuba said haltingly. "and she s..started screaming at me."

"I see, did you tell the priests this?" Yami asked.

"They didn't give him the chance to. They started yelling at him as soon as they found him, hardly giving him a chance to breathe let alone defend himself." Seto growled, visibly angry.

"I see. And they chased him back this way?" Yami asked, and Seto nodded. "Thank you Seto, Mokuba. I will have your lawn cleared momentarily." Yami said, stepping back outside. The commotion outside had gotten twice as loud as it had been before Yami went into the temple, and Yami had to use a spell to be heard. "SILENCE!!" he commanded, and immediately they quieted, knowing better than to argue with him when he used that tone. Frequently someone would die when he used that tone, and none of the priests wanted their lives to be prematurely shortened. "Explain yourself high priestess Anzu." Yami said, singling out the young woman.

"That little urchin that the Dark priest calls a boy insulted my daughter this morning and refused to apologize." Anzu said, and Yami noticed for the first time that Tae was standing next to her mother. Tae was an exact replica of her mother, only thirteen instead of thirty. Yami allowed a fierce glower to settle itself on his features before he spoke.

"I was called from my morning rest because two CHILDREN could not agree to common courtesies?" Yami demanded in a deadly quiet tone. Many of the priests and priestesses present paled and began to tremble, but the high priestess continued undaunted.

"But you highness..." She began insolently.

"BUT NOTHING!!" Yami interrupted her, raising his voice so that he might get through to what little brain might have been present. "If you are making this much of a spectacle over two Children and their manners, you seem to be loosing your touch, High Priestess of Light." Yami said acidly. "I could think of at least a dozen more productive ways for you to spend your mornings, not the least of which would be your usual duties to your temple." The thinly veiled insults and unspoken threats seemed to finally penetrate Anzu's thick skull as the woman paled some. "Leave. There is no reason for you to be here." Yami said, and all of the priests and priestesses left quickly, most glad to have escaped with their lives.

When the last one was gone, Seto made his presence known. "Thank you." he said, from just behind Yami.

"It was not that much of a problem my friend. I can not stand hypocrites." Yami said, smirking slightly.

"Even so, she would have been a valuable ally." Seto pointed out quietly. Yami snorted then, looking at Seto like he was crazy before laying his hand against his friends head, checking for signs of fever.

"Like I said, I can not stand hypocrites. Why are you arguing my decisions Seto? She would more likely stab me in the back than give me useful information."

"Only because you do not worship the same gods as her." Seto pointed out.

"Hypocritical gods. I value my choice in worship thank you very much." Yami said scowling.

"I know." Seto said simply, smiling slightly.

"Then why do you say such drabble?" Yami demanded. "It is very annoying to help a friend only to be questioned afterwards by that same friend on the fine points of my decision."

"It is something that you would do good to think about." Seto pointed out. "Do you have plans today?"

"No, today is my rest day. Once a month I get a day to myself and it has to start like this." Yami scowled. "Everyone should know by now what day it is, as it has been the same day every month since I was coroneted. And this morning started out so well too, before all of this."

"You sound like a little child complaining about lesions." Seto said laughing quietly. "How did your morning start.

Smiling happily, Yami told him of waking up with Yugi in his arms and the feeling of warmth that had washed over him.

* * *

After informing the Dark prince of what was happening at the temple, Shadi took a moment to catch his breath. Glancing into the monarchs rooms, he saw for the first time the boy looking toward him. 

"Hello." Shadi said politely. "Who are you?"

The boy shook his head before patting his throat and shaking his head again. "You cannot speak?" Shadi asked, and the boy nodded. It was then that Shadi noticed the armband, though it took him a moment to recognize it. "Interesting. You are Yugi then, gift from Kina ner Mintaren?" The boy looked startled before nodding. "Pharaoh Yami has not yet told many people of you. I am a friend of Kina." Shadi explained.

Yugi looked at him with curiosity for a moment, though Shadi had no idea what the boy could be curious of. A moment later, Shadi turned away. "If you need anything not already provided, find me and I will help you how I can." Shadi said, turning back for a moment to see the boy nod. "Good bye for now then." The advisor said, leaving the room to make his way back to the dark temple to retrieve his things.

Shadi took his time, having no desire to get to the temple before the priests of light left. He was thinking about Kina and Prince Yami's new slave and was slightly distracted when he ran into High Priestess Anzu, literally.

"YOU!!!" The priestess shouted as Shadi picked himself up off the floor. "You Bumbling Imbecile!!!" She screamed at him. "Do you have any Idea who I am!!!"

"Yes Priestess Anzu." Shadi said calmly. "My apologies. It seems that I was distracted."

"It seems!!! That is No excuse for such lack of attention!!" she screeched.

"Begging your pardon madam, but it does take two to collide in a hall this large." Shadi pointed out, beginning to lose his temper with the woman. Anzu's eyes flashed in anger before she stormed off, presumably to find someone else to bother.

Shadi had tried to be polite, but the priestess had that effect on people, driving them either to madness or rudeness. The priestess would be angry with him, but it was no problem of Shadi's because he did not worship at the temple of light, but at the temple of darkness. Making his way through the gardens in front of the temple, Shadi heard laughter from inside the temple, and he stopped for a moment to appreciate the sound. Both the Dark prince and the dark priest were laughing, and it was a very rare event. Neither of the boys enjoyed their lives nearly enough in Shadi's opinion, but there was little that the advisor could do about it. Sighing, Shadi continued his way into the temple, feeling the magic barrier as he passed through it, and made his way to where he had left his things when he left earlier that morning. Priest Seto would have to take the barrier down soon so that the Priests of light wouldn't protest again.

Shadi had retrieved his bag and was on his way out again when he heard Prince Yami call his name.

"Shadi, why are you here?" the prince asked, seemingly genuinely curious.

"I came to retrieve my bag. I left it here this morning before all of the excitement." Shadi explained.

"Very well." The prince said nodding, then turning back to Priest Seto.

* * *

Yami watched his advisor leave, wondering why the man had been in the dark temple in the first place. As if reading his thoughts, Seto answered his question. "He comes every morning when he has time, and worships at both altars." Seto explained. The way the temple was set up there was the main altar to the Dark God at the front, and a smaller altar to the God Malik off to the side. 

"How interesting." Yami mussed. "Well, I should go get Yugi. I left him there this morning without any kind of explanation."

"I'll see you later then." Seto said, and the young monarch took his leave.

When Yami made it back to his rooms, he found that the door was still slightly open and he had the perfect opportunity to watch his young slave stretching again. The boy was very graceful, and Yami felt as if he could watch him for hours on end without ever growing bored. A few moments latter though, Yugi realized that he was no longer alone and stopped his stretches to see who was there.

"Hello little one." Yami said, trying not to sound menacing. Yugi flinched slightly anyways, looking away, and Yami felt a searing pain in the core of his being at the sight. "I would like to show you around the palace so you don't get lost." Yami explained softly, and was pleased when Yugi stood up, though the boy carefully kept his face averted.

Yami nodded and led the boy from the room and into the rest of the palace, explaining directions on how to get from here to there in a quiet, hopefully soothing voice.

* * *

Yugi was more than just a little confused, for that matter, he was more than merely confused as well. He knew for a fact that his master didn't need to show him around personally, yet he did and Yugi found it unsettling. He did pay careful attention to what his master was saying though, because he did not know if he would need to know all of this in the future and it was best to try to remember rather than ignore it. 

"..And if you follow these symbols they will lead you to the healers' sanctuary." His master was saying, indicating a symbol on the wall of a stylized table with a person laying on it and a sun just above that. There was a small pointer symbol pointing to a hallway. Yugi took a moment to memorize the symbol and its meaning, before turning again to his master. Yugi glanced up, expecting to see his master moving forward again to show him something else, but the older boy was standing there looking at him.

Yugi looked away quickly, feeling suddenly clumsy and scared, but at the same time something in him was feeling... exited. It only confused him more to think about it, so Yugi did his best to push those thoughts aside. Most of his attention had been turned inward to calm his thoughts, so Yugi was caught by surprise when his Master reached down and lifted his face so that Yugi was looking up into his masters crimson eyes.

His masters very pretty crimson eyes.

Blushing furiously Yugi half looked away, not turning his head, just trying to avert his eyes.

"You don't have to look away." The dark prince said, "Your eyes are very fascinating, and so expressive. You don't have to look away." He stated again, and Yugi's confusion grew. He had been taught the entire time that he had been a slave never to look into his masters eyes, and in most cases never to look into his masters face either.

"Let's go then, there is more to see." His master said, releasing Yugi's face, and continuing to show the small slave around. As the tour continued, a warm feeling settled deep in Yugi's chest and though Yugi didn't know what it was, it felt good.

* * *

Aaries: Eh.... Wow...Sorry it didnt have that fluff we promised, but we're getting to it? I swear we are. 

Chaos: eventualy. We are sorry that this chapter kind of focuses on Seto, that was almost unintentional. At least, having it end up as being half a chapter was.

Angel: And Shadi is in here!!! In his POV and everything. thats cool right?

Aaries: Eh, is it just me or are there two unplanned scenes in this?

Jef: Yes, but one ties into Moon and the other is character developement.

Chaos: Cookies to anyone who can guess which scenes those are.

Jef: Well, we hope you like it. And now, We give thanks to our reviewers by mentioning their names. Thank You rainystar186; xamosy; Osiris-Lee((please update persephone soon((gives you puppy eyes)))); Kuramaotaku08; LovingKitten; Yana5; Hikari's-dark-side-08; pharohs-slave; kenshinfan21; Idgie Jones; momocolady; tiger witch; Masami, Mistress Of Fire; Dark Guardian24; SnowIce; Sabby-chan Yaoi Fan; and TJ. Everyones reviews are very apreciated, and give us inspiration to continue writing this.

Aaries: MERRY CHRISTMAS, Happy Yuletide, Happy Haunika, Happy New year, and In general HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!! (whatever it may be that you celebrate)


	9. Chapter Nine

Aaries: ehehehehehe... Well here's more!

PR: PLEASE-DONT-KILL-US-FOR-THE-DELAY-WE-DO-WRITE...HONEST!

Jef:Sorry its taking so long. With collage starting recently, and loosing one of our books and then having to do homework, its getting harder to get this done, but we Promise we will continue writing and we Will finish this series, I swear it. BTW we do NOT own Yugioh. even the idea behind this fic is pretty iffy nowadays.

* * *

It was several hours later that the tour concluded, as Yami took Yugi to the Dark Temple to meet Seto and Mokuba. Yugi seemed very nervous coming into the temple, and Yami let him wait right outside the door in the temple's garden. Seto really had a way with plants, and they flourished under his care and the courtyard of the temple was filled with blooming flora of all kinds. It was one of Seto's personal magics, to grow plants to be so lush.

The temple itself was almost deserted because not many people would openly worship the dark god, and Yami easily found his friend in the side alcove dedicated to the dark gods lover. "Hello, Seto, do you have a moment to talk?" Yami asked, coming up behind his friend.

"Certainly," Seto replied, turning to look at him. "It's about your new slave isnt it?" Seto stated, more than asked, after one look at Yami's face.

"Um… yes, actually. How did you know?" Yami asked, clearly startled.

"You bought him with you," Seto pointed out, nodding to where the small slave could be seen just outside the temples door. "What do you want to do about him?"

"He is mine, and I want him taken care of and comfortable here. He needs new cloths and shoes as well," Yami explained, slightly embarrassed.

"I can take care of that," Seto responded confidently, then thought about it for a moment. "Better yet I can have Mokuba help him. He is young enough to be less of a threat I think, and he is smart. He will help Yugi feel more at ease here."

"Thank you, my friend," replied Yami sincerely.

"What all does he need?" Seto questioned.

"Cloths, shoes, etc. And I would like you to teach him to read and write."

"Are you sure about that? Most commoners can't even write, and by the old laws it is forbidden to teach slaves." Seto said. "You would never be able to sell him or take him outside the palace."

"I am the Pharaoh." Yami said sardonically. "I believe it will not cause that much trouble, and I never plan on giving him up."

"And if he decides at some point that he wants to leave?" Seto asked.

"Then I will free him." Yami said quietly, the tone of his voice dead. "I truly hope that it never comes to that though."

Seto nodded, apparently having heard what he wanted to. "Very well, what do you want to dress him in? Black and purple would bring out the color of his hair and eyes very nicely, and contrast well with the alabaster tones of his skin."

"I wanted to dress him in white and silver." Yami said, surprised by the change in subject. "He is far too pure for anything darker."

"Yes, I can see that. Dance style clothing, right?" Seto said thoughtfully. "I will ask Mokuba to take him to Mai as soon as I find him again. He has been hiding ever since this morning's little incident."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Yami asked, able to guess how hard this was on the smaller boy.

"Actually there may be. Do you remember the girl I told you about the other night, the one Mokuba likes?" Seto asked, and when Yami nodded he continued. "She is currently working in the kitchen, but she is owned by one of the priests of light. He has her... on reserve," Seto explained, seeing no way to say it tactfully.

"I see." Yami said, his eyes darkening. It was a common practice among the nobles and most priests to purchase young slaves and keep them as reserve sex slaves for when they reached a proper age. The usual age was fifteen. "How old is she now?"

"Fourteen." Seto said grimly.

"Your brother likes her and wants to get to know her before she becomes someone's pleasure slave?" Yami asked.

"No, he wants for her not to become a pleasure slave," Seto clarified. "Is there anything you can arrange?"

"She works in the kitchen you say? What does she look like?" Yami asked thoughtfully.

"About the same size as Mokuba, with long hair the same color as mine but a little darker," replied Seto.

"I think I have met her, she was the one who fed Yugi last night," Yami murmured, the light of recognition dawning on his face. "I may be able to claim her as a personal slave to look after Yugi."

"That would probably work well," Seto admitted. "Perhaps she could try to keep Mokuba in line as well. He has been getting into an unusual amount of trouble lately, and a new friend may help settle him down."

"That or help him get into twice as much trouble." Yami snorted. "Either way it would be good for all three of them I think."

"All three of who?" Mokuba queried, somehow popping up just behind Seto. "I'll tell you tomorow." Seto gestured vaguely. "For now can you take Yami's new slave, Yugi, to Mai for a clothing fitting? He can't talk but needs a dancer's wardrobe in white and silver."

"Sure," Mokuba accepted brightly.

"Thank you. He is waiting just outside the temple. He didn't seem comfortable coming in here."

"Not a problem, I'll get right to it!" Mokuba grinned, making his way over to the slave cheerfully.

"And try not to get into trouble!" Seto called after his retreating form.

"Yea yea!" Mokuba grumbled, and Seto shook his head before turning back to Yami to make arrangements for when he would start teaching the boy.

* * *

Yugi was watching a bird perched in the tree just outside the doorway, and thinking of the freedom the bird had. It could fly anywhere it pleased, and it had a beautiful voice as well.

"Hello!" a bright chipper voice said from close behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. "You're Yugi right? Yami's slave?"

Yugi hesitantly nodded, looking the boy over. The boy looked only a little older than Yugi and he had long black hair that was tied back at the boy's neck.

"I'm Mokuba. I'm supposed to take you to Mai for some new clothes. As the Dark Prince's new slave you're going to need some nicer stuff… and a lot more, too." Mokuba said, talking about a mile a minute. "Come on, Mai is real cool, she's the palace tailor. Just don't call her a seamstress or she gets real cranky. It's the apprentices who are kind of hard to get along with."

Yugi was more than just a little confused as he followed Mokuba first through the garden and then down long winding halls. Despite having had the tour that morning, he still got quite lost only a few turns into the halls. Mokuba didn't stop talking the entire time though, and somehow Yugi felt more at ease around the long haired boy. Yugi was able to hide his confusion at being lost by listening to the boy talk about the various apprentices, who Mokuba had apparently had lots of run-ins with.

Then she was there, yelling like some kind of harpy. "YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" She screamed directly at Mokuba. "I can not believe your brother had the audacity to call the Dark Prince into it! Then my mother yelled at me, ME! All because she was humiliated in front of the other priests!" She continued along this vein for several minutes, and Yugi got a good look at her. She was a little shorter than Mokuba, but taller than Yugi with cropped brown hair and brown eyes set in a pretty round face. She was wearing a nice white dress with gold and rainbow trim around the edges and making a pattern on the front of it. She seemed nice enough, or she would have had insults not been rolling out of her mouth with every breath. "And on top of all of that you have been hiding like a coward in that ugly temple all morning!"

Mokuba looked almost ready to either start crying or slap the girl, and Yugi had the feeling that neither of those things would be good. Gently he tapped Mokuba on the shoulder to get his attention when the girl stopped talking to catch her breath.

When Mokuba looked over at Yugi, the mute slave grinned and motioning to the girl made a face. Mokuba looked at him like he was crazy for a moment before biting his lip in an attempt to not start giggling.

* * *

Mokuba thought that Yugi looked just like Tae when he made that face, and he wondered how he mimicked her expression so flawlessly. Trying not to giggle he turned back to Tae, who was now sputtering indignantly.

"What do you think the meaning of that farce is, Slave?" She demanded, in what Mokuba recognized as her most depreciating and insulting voice.

"Not a farce Tae, Yugi is just trying to remind me that we had something to attend to before we got caught up listening to your -lovely- screech." Mokuba said the last bit sarcastically, and before Tae could begin to pull her self together he grabbed Yugi and made a run for it, leaving the girl sputtering in their wake.

When the got around the corner two halls down, Mokuba finally gave in and started laughing. "Oh that was great! How did you get so good at that Yugi?" Mokuba asked when he could catch his breath again. Yugi was giggling to, though Mokuba didn't realize it until he looked over at the boy. Yugi was completely silent, with an unrepentant grin when Mokuba remembered what Seto had said.

"That was Tae," Mokuba explained when he could think about it without bursting into more giggles. "She's a real bitch, and is Priestess Anzu's daughter. They both belong to the temple of light and look down on anyone who doesn't meet their exacting standards. Tae especially hates me for some reason, but I don't know why." After another moment Mokuba spoke again, "Thanks for reacting back there. I might have done something mean if you hadn't."

Yugi shrugged it off, not thinking it was that much.

"Come on. It's just a little further to Mai's workshop," Mokuba mentioned after a short, awkward silence, and they were off again.

Soon Yugi was in a large room that was filled with tables and people working with large amounts of material. Several of the people gave Mokuba dirty looks, but the long-haired priest in training ignored them, and a tall blond woman came out to meet them.

"Hello Mokuba. What brings you here today, mischief maker?" she asked, approaching the two boys. It was obvious that Mokuba was here frequently from the way she greeted him.

"Hi Mai. This is Yugi. He is Yami's new slave and he needs a new wardrobe," Mokuba said. "He can't talk. Yami wants him to have a full dancer's wardrobe in silver and white."

"Yes that would bring out the tones in your skin and eyes," Mai muttered, more to herself than the slave boy, bending down to look Yugi in the eye. "Well come to the back room so I can take your measurements. I may be able to get you some day clothes to tide you over until I get the wardrobe finished." She said, and Yugi obediently followed the woman back.

* * *

Two hours later found Yugi and Mokuba back in the dark temple, with Seto and Yami no where to be found. Mokuba was teaching Yugi to play chess, and the small slave had picked up the rules very quickly and was actually beating Mokuba. That's how Seto found them when he returned to the temple in the afternoon. He watched them play for a moment, before pointing out a move to his brother.

"Hehehe.. Yea!" Mokuba said, triumphantly taking the move and thinking that he was finally going to get ahead in the game. However Seto was impressed when Yugi countered the move a moment later with no apparent effort.

"Interesting. Have you played before?" Seto asked, and Yugi shook his head no. "Very interesting." Seto said, and he helped Mokuba play till the end of the game. Mokuba won just barely, and Yugi didn't seem to mind that Seto had helped him.

"You're sure you have never played before?" Seto asked, impressed. Yugi shook his head, and he looked so worried for a moment that Seto had to will himself to remember that the boy was a slave who didn't know that he had done nothing wrong. "Very well then. Would you mind playing against me? You and Mokuba can work together and we'll see how far we get." Seto said, resetting the chessboard.

* * *

Yami came several hours later to pick Yugi up, his court having just let out. Yami was almost entirely a creature of the night when given a choice, and held his court in the evenings instead of in the mornings like many other countries. It was near midnight when Yami arrived at the dark temple, and Yugi and Mokuba were both asleep already, having fallen asleep in front of a small fireplace in the living area of the temple. Mokuba had a book in his lap and the two boys were leaned against each other.

"Mokuba was reading him one of the histories." Seto explained. "I need to talk to you for a moment."

"What about?" Yami asked, following his friend to another room.

"Are you aware of just how intelligent your slave is?" Seto asked bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Yami's eyes narrowed, wondering what his friend was getting to.

"Mokuba taught him how to play chess earlier this evening, and he managed to win two out of five games against me." Seto explained, frowning slightly. "If he learns reading and writing as well, it should only take him a few weeks to get the basics that Mokuba already has."

"Realy?" Yami asked, wondering if Yugi knew or wanted to learn other games as well._((1))_

"Yes, and I was not going easy on them after the first game." Seto said.

"Them?" Yami asked, wondering if there was something he should know about.

"Mokuba was still helping Yugi with some of the more obscure rules." Seto explained. "In any case I though I would let you know about this development so you wouldn't be surprised later on. For now I think it's about time to put both of them to bed." Yami nodded and returned to the place where the boys were sleeping so he could claim his small slave.

* * *

Aaries: Ok, Please oh please dont kill us for the delay. What we did write was done in less than three days, or at least most of it was, and the long delay before we wrote it was because of Classes. They are evil and making us re-think the whole going to collage thing. High school homework was never this hard... ((groans))

Angel: In any case, please stay with us if any of you are still reading, we Swear by all things holey that we Will finish this fic and the sequels. It may take a while, but we Will finish them.

Chaos: and thanks go out to Yana5, Zuri Hawara, Hikari's-dark-side-, tiger witch, Chihiro , Marina-Kashu, animegurl147 , yaminakathy, White-Dragon-of-Hope, LumosNox , rainystar186, kenshinfan21, ladywolfTerri, Zoe , xamosy, DownRighT-eviL, Nina wyndia, crowkeeper990, Pharaoh Atemu's Angel, Osiris-Lee, Masami Mistress Of Fire, lil'v , luvngYAMI, and SoulDreamer.

Jef: did we forget anyone? well, let us know if we did. We... Im not reading that part of the script.

Aaries: fine, Ill do it. We Love all of you for reviewing and reading our fic even if you dont review, so please enjoy this chapter, and dont kill us for not writing it sooner.

_((1)) Real games, get your heads out of the gutters._


	10. Chapter Ten

Aaries: Classes are Evil, sorry but its True. Anyways, hope the delay didn't drive anyone off, and we hope you enjoy this chapter of Dark Legacy.

Angel: we really are sorry about the delay, but between worrying about our drivers test and birthdays and School we couldn't quite get more done on this faster. Please don't give up on this fic and Dragon.

Chaos: speaking of Dragon, we couldn't get the next part out without writing more on this because we had nothing more to add to dragon

Jef: Again, many many thanks to Chroni for having bettad all the chapters to this point, and you really should read her fics I think. Not only is she a talented Betta she is also a good writer.

Aaries: however, we are going to force YamiEmmy to betta this chapter so you can get this faster ((probably...))

* * *

Yami carried his sleeping slave back to his rooms, careful not to wake the smaller boy. The boy was so beautiful when he slept, and Yami had no desire to awaken him and ruin that perfect visage. Yami lay Yugi down on his bed, and then wondered why he had the small one sleeping in his rooms instead of somewhere else.

Yugi looked so beautiful sleeping on Yami's bed, his skin contrasting the black and gold satins that composed the prince's bedding. Yami sat watching his young prize for several minutes, so lost in observing his small one that time ceased to have meaning. Yami's eyes memorized every curve of Yugi's face, the way that his hair fell as a halo around the small ones face, and the curves of his neck that flowed smoothly to the small one's pale chest. Yami's breath caught in his throat as he realized that this pure image of innocence and purity was turning him on like no concubine ever had.

Quickly he rose and moved away, before he did something to harm or startle the little one. A cool breeze from the gardens bought his mind back to the present, as he realized that it was a few hours after midnight. Sighing, Yami changed quietly into his nightclothes, and slipped into the opposite side of the bed from Yugi, determined not to bother the small one tonight.

* * *

Three hours before dawn, scarcely a half an hour after Yami lay down, the dark prince felt the covers trembling. The dark Prince saw in the wan moonlight that Yugi was curled up into himself again, and shivering uncontrollably. Something in Yami's heart trembled and the dark prince gently pulled the small slave to him and held him until he stopped shivering. The prince then fell into a very deep sleep, and thankfully no strange dreams plagued him tonight.

* * *

Warm sunlight softened by gossamer drapes made its way into the room to gently awaken the sleeping occupants. Two forms, startlingly alike in appearance, stirred as one, though the older was the first to awaken this time. He waited patiently; content to watch the smaller one stretch cutely. The small one's mouth opened in a quiet yawn, as his arms stretched up and the covers fell away revealing smooth expanses of tantalizing flesh to the older one.

Instead of coming fully into the world of the awake though, the small one fell back into sleep, his usual schedule upset recently. He would adjust eventually, but for now the older one was content to watch him in the soft morning light.

* * *

When Yugi awoke he found himself again awakening slowly, trying to cling to the feeling of safety that hailed him as his mind drifted between sleep and wakefulness. He knew that when he awoke fully he would be back where he was the day before, in the arms of some one he was afraid of. Sighing, Yugi finally gave up and opened his eyes to the morning light, blinking sleepily. He was still a little tired because he had never stayed up that late before. When being trained, the slaves were put to bed when there was no longer light to train by, as lanterns would be too expensive just to train slaves. That and the daily routine was normally enough to exhaust the slaves to sleep until awakened.

"Good morning, little one." Yami's deep voice greeted him, and Yugi looked up to see that his master was sitting above him, smiling gently.

Blushing, Yugi sat up as well, looking down at his hands in embarrassment and wondering what his master would want of him today. Yugi was trying very hard not to fidget when his master reached down to cup his face. The small boy flinched, unable to stop the reaction though he did try.

Yami's hand drew back when he saw Yugi flinch, but a second later he cupped the boys face with one hand and tilted his head up. When ruby and amethyst eyes met, Yami gently held the boy's face there. "You needn't look away little one, and you have nothing to fear from me." Yami gently caressed the small slave boy's face, running his thumb along the small boy's soft lips. Yugi's breathing changed slightly as a deep blush settled across the boy's face.

Yami's own breathing changed as well, as he felt Yugi's soft lips and wondered what they tasted of. Yami felt his body move closer to Yugi's, ready to taste him and feel the smaller form beneath him but not wanting press the boy to soon. Yami held himself back, knowing it was probably too soon for the boy to trust him that close, but loosing more control as the agonizing moments slipped past and he lost himself in that lavender gaze.

A moment later Yami was startled by a soft tentative knock at the door and he quickly pulled away from Yugi, noting as he did so that he had gotten much closer to the boy than he had realized.

"What?" Yami called as he rose and walked to the door to see who was there. When he opened the door he found a young messenger standing with a linen wrapped package.

"Madam Mai t.. told me to deliver these here.," the boy stuttered, holding out the package to the Dark Prince.

"What is it?" Yami asked, eyeing the bundle and trying to remember if he had ordered any new clothes from Mai.

"The f.. first bit of the dancer's wardrobe..." The boy said, looking very nervous.

"Oh! Thank you." Yami said, happily taking the bundle and closing the door in the boy's face. He would be able to see his little dancer in proper dance clothes now.

* * *

Outside the door the aid sank to his knees, relief making him unstable. One of the guards posted outside the Pharaoh's doors gave him a sympathetic look. "First time coming face to face with his highness?" the guard asked quietly, and the boy nodded. "Its ok, go get something warm to eat, kid." the guard said kindly.

Pharaoh Yami had a very powerful aura, even when he wasn't actively trying to intimidate someone, and it usually overwhelmed people the first time they met with him, so the guards had seen this reaction before.

The messenger had something else to do first though, and after making it to his feet, made his way back to the sewing room to report in to Madam Mai.

"Well?" She asked when he got back, not looking up from the garment she was currently working on.

"He took it inside without looking at it first." the boy said nervously, still trembling.

"Yes, I see." She said sighing. It was just like Yami to take it without looking at it first, and though Mai knew she was one of the protected ones and Yami wouldn't execute or dismiss her without damn good reason, it would have been nice to know what he thought about the outfit before she finished the rest of the wardrobe in the same style. "Go relax kid, I don't want to see you back here until you can stand steadily." She said to the boy, who gratefully left.

Mai would just have to find Yami this afternoon and ask him what he thought of the outfit.

* * *

* * *

Aaries: Again, we are Really really sorry for the delay. we hope you enjoyed this and we promise Jou shall show up in the next chapter. Erm... I think...

Chaos: but first we are writing Dragons Legacy in which Jou and the boys are taken by Keith to Egypt. Soon we promise, sooner than the update for this. Now we should probably go do our English homework...

Jef: Dang, we are in trouble, that was due a week ago... ANYWAYS, to our Wonderful reviewers a HUGE thank you. Tayko, Yana5, xamosy, ladywolfTerri, kenshinfan21, Zuri Hawara, Pharaoh Atemu's Angel, kk, Danielle Beesley (If you can find no Errors it is because of our Betta reader Chroni, she is great), Bella, Yugi's Little MoonAngel, sliferservant1, Ilikeyaoi, aquastar, pharohs-slave, YamiEmmy, light Rasiel, Whisper's Crew, Osiris-Lee, lil'v, SoulDreamer, Hikari's-dark-side-08

Aaries: oh yea, what should his outfit look like?


	11. Chapter Eleven

Whoo hoo! Just finished Dragons legacy chapter five yesterday and started writing this! Whee! Now I have to get to the part where Seto is, and did we mention that the next chapter of Dragon begins from Seto's side of it? Hehehehehehehehehheheehehe... Oooo... It's HOT here... and heat does funny things to our mind...

* * *

Yugi blushed as he looked down at himself, amazed by the quality of the clothes he was dressed in and awed by the relish his master had taken in dressing him. He was wearing dancer style pants, with a wide silver sash gathering them at the waist, and similar silver cuffs gathering the loose pants at the ankles. The top of the outfit was a white midriff vest, mostly open with one silver latch holding it together at the top, and white gauzy sleeves that were gathered in silver cuffs at his wrists. There was silver embroidery on the back of the vest, but Yugi hadn't gotten a good look at it before his master had dressed him in it. He had also been given soft white hall slippers, which he despaired of keeping clean. Aside from the white gauzy material used on the sleeves, all the rest of the cloth used in the outfit was embroidered in delicate white on white patterns, adding a subtle layer, but still keeping the ligh t softness of the cloth.

There was also the way that his master was looking at him now, and it made something in Yugi tremble. "Well, come along Yugi, I have made arrangements for you to stay at the temple during the day." Yami said, somehow taking his eyes from the absolutely delicious looking little slave.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach the dark temple, and as soon as they got there Mokuba dragged Yugi into the back room to play for a little while before their lessons.

"A moment to talk Seto." Yami asked.

"Of course. What is on your mind?" Seto said turning back to Yami.

"Is there any way for me to communicate with Yugi mind to mind? I remember reading somewhere about such things when I was younger." Yami said, adding the last part blushing when Seto raised one eyebrow at him.

"There are actually several ways to do that, but all of them are complicated and usually only usable for short distances." Seto said. "Which is why we don?t use them very often, but that would probably be enough wouldn't it?"

"Yes, probably. What would I need for the link?" Yami asked.

"Well, the most common one is one that would let you read his mind whenever you wanted, but you wouldn't be able to talk to him that way. The second most common is a two way link that would allow you to communicate whenever you needed to within a certain range. The range in any of these spells depends entirely on how much mage potential both participants have." Seto explained.

"I would prefer the two way link. The distance shouldn't really be that much of a problem." Yami said.

"In that case, you will need to identical items, preferably pendants or something. As long as you're both holding or wearing these items you should be able to communicate. There can't be any other spells on these items, though they have been copied by magic in the past." Seto said. "It will take at least a week to cast the spell, and then a token upkeep of energy every now and then."

"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this." Yami said, asking a subtle question.

"While you sit in council each day, I generally have nothing to do and have taken to the library in my free time. I found a book on this kind of thing last week." Seto explained, snorting. The temple didn?t really require that much to keep it up and running in good condition, and so Seto had quickly turned to reading and gardening to stave off boredom.

"Well, I have pendants, I think, and so we can get started on it later today if it's okay with you." Yami said.

"Not a problem, I'll see you when you come back." Seto said, "For now I'm going to start the boy's lessons."

* * *

Yugi was delighted to find out that he was going to be learning to read and write, though he was a bit confused at first. After he started mastering the basics, he asked Mokuba and Seto about it, and found out that his master wanted him to be able to communicate with people. Yugi whole heartedly devoted himself to learning this then, and soon was able to read and write as well as Mokuba. He practiced his dancing each morning before his master awoke, and sometimes in the evening as well.

Yami for his part was happy to learn that his slave was as smart as Seto had assumed, and as soon as Yugi could write well, he started talking to the boy. He learned quite a few things about his little slave, and was quite satisfied with his hidden strength. When Yugi made his mind up about something, there was very very little that could be done to persuade him to think otherwise.

Mokuba almost died of embarrassment when he learned that Seto had appropriated Shizuka to watch out for Yugi and himself. He quickly got over it and by the end of the week they were all fast friends and getting into much mischief.

* * *

Yami was unaccountably nervous that day, though he did very well at hiding it. The pendent that would allow him to communicate with Yugi was to be finished today, and Yami would be able to finally give it to Yugi. Yugi had been a very quick study as far as writing, but it was very trying to talk that way.

After morning court, Yami sought out his little slave and found him with Mokuba and Shizuka in the library. Yugi was a little bit away from where Mokuba was reading to Shizuka, and Yami had to smile at his little ones tact.

"Yugi." Yami said from the door to get his slaves attention. "If you would come with me." Yugi obediently rose to follow him.

"See you later Yugi." Yami heard Mokuba call before resuming his reading.

"I take it those two are still dancing around the subject?" Yami asked when they were far enough down the hall not to be heard, and he saw Yugi nod out of the corner of his eye. "I hope they say something to each other soon, it's getting a little bit... nauseating." Yugi shrugged, grinning unrepentedly.

Since Yugi had started taking writing lessons with Mokuba, Yami had noticed that the smaller boy was a bit more relaxed around him, using his expressions to communicate. The small boy could express a lot too, because he was able to express things with his whole body instead of just his face. Then again, without being able to speak it was probably his only means of communication most of the time.

Soon they reached Yami's private garden, which was attached to his suite of rooms. A fountain stood in the centre of the garden with a large ledge to sit on when Yami had the leisure to, and a small pathway around the fountain was cobbled with smooth white stones, as was a path leading to the door leading inside. The rest of the area in the garden was taken up with plants of one kind or another. Most of the plants had broad leaves to give the garden plenty of shade so that it would be cool instead of hot. It was not as elaborate as Seto's garden, which had flowering vines crawling on the walls and grass instead of cobbling, but it was a nice garden. Yugi often practiced his dancing here in the mornings instead of inside.

Yami led Yugi to the fountain and motioned for the smaller boy to sit next to him. "Yugi, I have something for you." Yami said, presenting one of the enchanted pendants to the small slave boy. It was an inverted gold pyramid with many symbols and markings, on a simple chain. Yami was already wearing his, and waited nervously for Yugi to put his on.

_-...wonder why he's giving it to me. Really wish I could ask, oh well.-_

**- It's so we can communicate without having to resort to writing.-** Yami explained silently. "I hope you don't mind, but it will be faster and easier than making you write everything." he added aloud.

_-Oh so you can hear what I'm thinking now? That's going to take some getting used to I've never been able to actually talk to someone before even though its not really considered talking I guess... -_ Yugi made a conscious effort not to allow his whole stream of consciousness to pour though the link.

**- It's alright, I don't mind.-** Yami said. **- I want to learn more about you after all.-**

- _Is that why you made these? It seems like an awful lot of effort to go through just for me. I hope you're not put out or...-_ Yugi's thoughts trailed off and Yami could feel him trying to find some thing to say that wouldn't sound rude.

**- Not at all, you under value yourself. I wanted to be able to talk to you for real, that's why I made these. You don't need to worry about being a bother or anything. There is a way to close the link, but it does require practice.-** Yami said, partially responding to half formed thoughts. He naturally had a more controlled mind because he was a sorcerer, but it was nice to listen to Yugi's mind. It was.. refreshing.

_- Oh.. -_ was all that Yugi could come up with.

* * *

Yami started taking Yugi to his court with him the next week, just so he could have the smaller boy closer to him during the day. Since the fatality rate dropped quite steeply while Yugi was there, no one objected to the Dark Prince bringing him. After a few months of taking Yugi to the court with him in the afternoons, and talking with him almost the entire time, Yami was more fascinated than ever by his little slave. Yugi had a very quick mind, and once Yami had been able to convince him that there was almost nothing he could do or say to really upset Yami, he had a very well developed sense of humor. As often as not he was behind the pranks that would get Mokuba, Shizuka, and himself into trouble, though generally they had the good sense not to upset too many people.

It was just after one fiasco involving a tree, six desert pies, and a bird's nest that Yami started receiving reports of more and more magic talented children coming from the western towns and cities. A great many of them seemed to be the orphans left over from when the house of Brannar had extended its territory and attacked their neighbors the Solar Tribes. Their magic was slightly different from anyone else's, as almost all of the Solar peoples had possessed some kind of magic talent or gift. It was extremely hard for outsiders to train them to use their magic because it worked differently, and didn't follow the same channels in their bodies as other magics. ((((And lets just leave it at that because it's VERY complicated))))

An emissary from the house of Brannar had arrived earlier that day, and Yami was supposed to see him in court sometime within the next day or two, but Seto and Anzu were supposed to have meetings with him first because it was the temples jurisdiction to take in and train magic talented slaves and orphans.

Sighing, Yami finally got fed up with the paper work he had been occupied with that morning, and wend looking for Yugi. Having the little one near always made him feel more calm and able to deal with the idiots he had to work with.

* * *

Jou was not having a good day. First he had gotten lost on the way to the temple, and now he had gotten lost on the way back to his master's room. Stopping for a moment by one of the large windows looking out on some garden, Jou was surprised to hear a voice that he had never been able to get out of his head.

"Slow down you two! I think we lost her this time."

"Nu uh! That's what you said last time and she still caught up. Come on Yugi, there's a shortcut back to the temple this way." a young boy's voice said, and a moment later, three young figures came around the corner into the hall Jou was in. One had long hair, and was wearing a black tunic with gold embroidered into it, marking him as a priest or priest in training of some sort. The other boy was small with tri colored hair, and he was wearing white dancer style pants and a white tunic with flowing sleeves and intricate embroidery on it, though a gold collar on his neck marked him as a slave.

The last to turn around the corner was someone who he wasn?t sure he would ever see again. She wore a simple dress made of undyed cloth, and had a plain leather slave collar on. "No, we definitely lost her, besides hasn't she been warned that she isn't allowed in this side of the palace anymore?" Shizuka said to her companions, before actually looking down the hall.

Jou quickly turned his eyes away and hoped she wouldn't recognize him, while he panicked in the privacy of his own mind. If Keith found her or found out that she was from the Solar tribes, he would undoubtedly try to use her or capture her.

"Jou?" She said suddenly. "Jounouchi! It is you!" Shizuka ran forward and enveloped him in a fierce hug. "How dare you try to ignore me!"

"Taru'un ol xor naut, olen whol dossta sreen'aur." Jou said, smiling and hugging her back before gently pushing her away. "Usstan inbal ulu alu, ussta jabbuk shah drithin." Jou's smile faltered some as he turned to leave, because he did feel his master trying to call him through the magic suppressing collar he wore.

"Usstan uil kne'al." He heard Shizuka say softly. "Go in health Dalninuk."

"Don't Shizuka, please." Jou said. He wasn't sure how much his master understood of the Solar language, so it would be best to not use terms like that until he was certain they wouldn't be overheard and repeated. He then hurried away from her and her friends.

* * *

"Who was that Shizuka?" Mokuba asked, staring after Jou and Shizuka turned back to him.

"Oh just someone I met before I was sold here. Come on, isn't your brother supposed to be waiting for us back at the temple?" She said, going cheerfully on her way, determined to ignore the pain that she felt for her brother.

Yugi nodded enthusiastically, and skipped ahead, conveying energy and brightness with every movement.

"Alright." Mokuba said, wondering both what language they had been speaking and why Shizuka would lie about someone she had called brother.

* * *

Aaries: Hehehehehe.. FORESHADOWING! The only question is can anyone guess what it is?

Chaos: Probably. Anyways, this chapter has some of the Drow language in it. For the record we do not own the drow language, though we have made up some words when the dictionary we printed didn't have a suitable word.

Jef: Do you think that people would be too upset if we didn't put the translation in? The scene will be repeated word for word in the next chapter of Dragons Legacy, and so will be translated there.

Aaries: Eh... We'll se how it goes. If you guys want a translation added on to this chapter or in the next chapter of this fic, let us know with a nice review. ((winks))

Chaos: Hehehehe.. that's bad. We know people want a bit more action in this and Dragon, but be a bit patient ok, next chapter begins evil plots between Tae and Keith, and a bit of excitement.

Aaries: Do you think there should be a failed kidnapping attempt first or not? (((Smiles)))


End file.
